BY   WAY   OF   CAPE    HORN 

FOURTH    EDITION 


BY  WAY  OF  CAPE  HORN 

FOUR    MONTHS    IN   A 
YANKEE   CLIPPER 

BY 

PAUL   EVE   STEVENSON 

AUTHOR   OF    "  A   DEEP-WATER   VOYAGE*' 

ILLUSTRATED    FROM    PHOTOGRAPHS    TAKEN    BY    THE    AUTHOR 


PHILADELPHIA 


J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT  COMPANY 
1908 


Copyright,  1898 

BY 

J.  B,  LippiNcoTT  Company 


SRLF 
URt 


51  "'^^8 


TO 

MY   MOTHER 


PREFACE 

As  in  the  case  of  our  first  *  *  Deep-Water  Voyage' '  to 
Calcutta,  the  present  one  was  undertaken  with  the  sole  idea 
of  enjoyment.  The  pleasure  which  such  a  voyage  affords 
the  fortunate  few  in  whom  there  is  a  real  affection  for  the 
sea  is  quite  indescribable.  To  such  there  is  no  monotony, 
for  there  is  always  something  interesting  and  amusing  going 
on  aboard  ship,  if  one' s  eyes  are  open  ;  the  men  themselves 
present  an  inexhaustible  field  for  study  and  reflection,  and 
it  is  well  known  that  a  more  jovial  and  witty  fraternity 
does  not  exist. 

But  there  is  also  a  sombre,  tragic  side  to  a  voyage  in  a 
Yankee  deep-water  ship,  and  that  is  the  cruel  and  brutal 
treatment  accorded  that  most  popular  individual  just  now, 
— the  American  sailor  ;  by  which  is  meant  the  men  who  sail 
before  the  mast  under  our  flag.  The  merchant  ser\ace  has 
ever  been  regarded  as  the  navy's  nursery,  and  a  faithful 
account  by  an  impartial  observer  will  be  found  in  these 
pages,  showing  the  manner  in  which  our  seamen  are  treated, 
— the  brothers,  as  it  were,  of  those  who  won  our  victories 
at  Manila  and  Santiago. 

P.  E.  S. 

New  York,  October  lo,  1898. 


LIST  OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 
Cape  Horn  bearing  northwest,  distant  fifteen  miles    .  Frontispiece 

PAGE 

The  course  of  the  "  Hosea  Higgins" 13 

The  companion-way 18 

Plan  of  cabin 28 

Forty  to  the  minute 48 

Mending  sails  in  fine  weather 53 

Overhauling  the  "Venturer'* 84 

*'  Blow,  my  bully  boys,  blow" 104 

•♦Eight  bells"     127 

A  fifty-foot  Cape  Horn  gray-beard 212 

The  ablest  seaman  in  the  ship 303 

The  four-masted  British  ship  *' Loch  Torridon" 333 

Tarring  down 358 

Hauling  taut  the  braces 387 


II 


The  course  of  ll.e"Hc.sM  His 


BY  WAY  OF  CAPE  HORN 

It  would  have  been  reasonable  to  suppose  that,  having 
made  one  long  voyage  in  a  sailing  ship,  my  wife  and  I 
would  have  been  content  to  stop  ashore  for  the  rest  of  our 
lives,  or  at  least  to  limit  the  length  of  our  voyages  to  the 
distance  which  separates  the  United  States  and  Europe. 
For  a  while,  indeed,  after  our  return  to  America  from 
India,  we  were  contented  enough  on  land,  and  were  kept 
busy  answering  the  innumerable  questions  of  interested 
relatives  and  friends  concerning  the  voyage  just  ended. 
But  restlessness  presently  attacked  us  again  ;  and  it  was 
not  hard  to  perceive  by  the  avidity  with  which  my  wife 
searched  the  Herald' s  ship-news  columns  every  morning 
for  tidings  of  deep-water  vessels  that  no  persuasion  on  my 
part  would  be  necessary  in  the  event  of  our  undertaking 
another  voyage.  Therefore,  when  two  years  had  passed 
away,  we  began  to  discuss  the  advisability  of  once  more 
tempting  the  elements  in  another  sea-journey  to  far-distant 
lands.  Japan  loomed  up  before  us  in  a  particularly  rosy 
light  as  a  destination  for  this  voyage  ;  but  there  was  one 
great  objection  to  it :  a  voyage  to  Yokohama  would  have 
taken  us  around  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  a  second  time, 
and  it  was  our  cherished  desire  to  double  Cape  Horn,  and 
thus  overcome  the  two  most  celebrated  and  tempestuous 
promontories  on  the  globe.  Indeed,  as  far  back  as  I  can 
remember,  I  have  always  wanted  to  accomplish  the  westerly 
passage  around  the  southernmost  extremity  of  the  earth's 
continents.  The  very  name  of  Cape  Horn  is  enough  to 
fire  the  imagination  of  a  true  lover  of  the  sea,  and  fills  the 

13 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

mind  with  pictures  of  ships  battHng  with  gales  of  wind  and 
giant  seas  and  visions  of  bleak,  iron-bound  shores  wrapped 
in  the  gloom  which  enshrouds  that  desolate  region.  After 
much  discussion,  then,  we  decided  on  the  voyage  from  New 
York  to  San  Francisco.  It  was  January  when  we  first 
broached  the  matter,  and,  after  arguing  the  pros  and  cons 
of  the  subject,  concluded  to  try  and  get  away  in  May,  as 
that  would  take  us  to  the  Horn  in  July,  the  middle  of  the 
antarctic  winter.  At  this  our  friends  stood  aghast.  '  *  It  is 
quite  bad  enough, ' '  they  said,  ' '  to  tempt  Providence  at  all 
on  so  foolhardy  an  excursion,  but  to  double  Cape  Horn  in 
midwinter  is  going  beyond  the  limits  of  reason. ' '  But  we 
stood  our  ground  in  spite  of  the  hurricane  of  objections 
(and  it  required  some  moral  courage  to  do  it),  and  forth- 
with commenced  systematic  preparations  for  the  journey. 
We  were  making  the  voyage  to  a  great  extent  for  the  pur- 
pose of  experiencing  the  weather  and  seas  off  Cape  Horn, 
and  as  the  latter  would,  no  doubt,  be  larger  and  grander 
in  winter  than  in  summer,  I  don' t  think  that  our  idea  was 
so  very  preposterous  after  all. 

Naturally,  our  first  thought  was  of  the  vessel  in  which 
we  were  to  sail,  and  we  looked  forward  with  much  interest 
to  a  voyage  in  an  American  ship,  having  all  our  lives  heard 
that  our  ships  were  run  in  a  splendid  manner,  that  the  dis- 
cipline on  board  was  perfect,  etc.  ;  and  it  would  also  be 
interesting  to  compare  this  vessel  with  those  of  another 
nation,  as  our  first  voyage  was  made  in  the  British  ship 
' '  Mandalore. ' '  Now,  it  happened  that  all  of  our  largest 
deep- watermen  were  away  from  New  York,  and  we  were  at 
a  loss  what  to  do,  for,  as  a  general  rule,  the  larger  the 
vessel  the  more  comfortable  she  is  in  bad  weather.  There 
are  many  who  will,  no  doubt,  take  exception  to  this,  as 
being  by  no  means  true  ;  yet  it  would  be  absurd  to  argue 
that  the  ' '  Germanic, ' '  for  instance,   is  as  easy  in  heavy 

14 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE    HORN 

weather  as  the  ' '  Kaiser  Wilhelm  der  Grosse, "  or  a  twelve- 
hundred-ton  sailing  ship  as  the  **  Potosi."  At  length,  one 
morning  appeared  the  announcement  in  the  marine  news 
that  the  ship  ''  Hosea  Higgins,"  Abner  Scruggs,  master, 
had  arrived  from  San  Francisco.  She  was  not  aS  large  as 
the  ' '  Roanoke' '  by  a  thousand  tons  or  more  ;  but  she  was 
well  known  to  us  by  name,  and  we  went  over  to  Brooklyn 
one  day,  where  she  was  discharging  a  cargo  of  wine,  canned 
salmon,  and  whale-oil,  and  introduced  ourselves  to  the  cap- 
tain. Although  gruff  in  the  extreme  at  first,  he  subse- 
quently thawed  out  sufficiently  to  warrant  the  belief  that  he 
was  really  quite  an  amiable  individual,  and  we  parted  with 
his  assurance  that  if  the  owners  were  willing  he  would  take 
us  around  to  San  Francisco,  and  even  went  to  the  length 
of  offering  us  his  own  room,  which  was  very  large  and  well 
ventilated.  The  owners  raised  no  objections  to  our  going, 
so  we  paid  the  passage-money  of  six  hundred  dollars  and 
took  possession  of  the  captain's  room.  I  might  remark 
parenthetically  that  this  seemed  to  be  a  pretty  good  round 
sum  to  pay  as  passage- money,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  we 
paid  only  three  hundred  dollars  to  Calcutta  on  the  first 
voyage  ;  however,  in  the  latter  case  the  money  went  to  the 
captain,  while  in  the  present  instance  it  went  to  the  owners  ; 
besides,  this  passage  would  probably  be  somewhat  longer. 
The  captain  received  no  recompense  whatever,  unless  we 
should  choose  to  make  him  a  present. 

The  ship  was  advertised  to  sail  on  May  i,  but  there  was 
the  usual  delay  incident  to  the  departure  of  a  sailing  ship 
taking  out  a  general  cargo,  and  it  was  nearly  a  fortnight 
after  that  date  before  we  finally  departed. 

Under  any  conditions  it  is  interesting  to  watch  the  load- 
ing of  a  large  sailing  ship,  and  when  you  are  going  to  sea 
in  that  ship,  a  certain  degree  of  interest  seems  to  attach 
itself  to  each  article,  and  the  assortment  of  freight  was  be- 

15 


BY  WAY  OF   CAPE   HORN 

wildering.  In  a  couple  of  hours,  one  morning  when  I  was 
on  board,  there  came  down  in  rapid  succession  two  large 
boilers  for  Spreckles's  sugar  refinery  in  Honolulu,  several 
hundred  cases  of  starch,  ditto  kegs  of  nails,  two  wagon- 
loads  of  sewing-machines,  two  hundred  bales  of  oakum, 
and  four  very  large  whale-boats,  about  thirty-five  feet  long, 
going  out  to  Sitka.  Strange  that  they  can  not  or  do  not 
build  good  whale-boats  on  the  Pacific  coast ;  the  best  boats 
used  by  our  whalers  are  all  built  in  New  Bedford,  even 
down  to  the  present  time,  and  sent  out  to  Alaska  round 
the  Horn. 

It  will  be  easily  perceived  how  difficult  it  must  be  to 
stow  a  cargo  of  this  sort  so  that  in  the  heaviest  of  weather 
it  will  not  shift.  Imagine  packing  away  four  clumsy  boats 
in  a  ship's  hold  so  that  they  will  not  be  crushed  by  heavier 
objects,  and  yet  in  such  a  way  as  to  prevent  these  very 
objects  from  shifting.  If  the  various  articles  could  be  de- 
livered on  the  pier  to  suit  the  stevedores,  it  would  be  plain 
sailing  ;  but  everything  must  be  taken  as  it  comes,  and  it 
calls  for  the  greatest  skill  from  the  most  experienced  men. 
There  is  said  to  be  only  a  single  firm  of  this  sort  in  New 
York  whose  men  understand  perfectly  the  art  of  stowing 
the  cargo  of  a  deep-water  ship. 

For  several  days  we  were  tortured  on  the  rack  of  expec- 
tation ;  but  after  the  most  aggravating  delays  and  daily 
messages  from  the  owners  that  the  ship  ' '  would  positively 
go  to  sea  to-morrow,"  we  learned  one  Monday  morning 
that  the  ship  would  be  cleared  that  day  and  would  sail  the 
next  morning,  which  was 

May  II 

Oh,  the  riot  attendant  upon  the  departure  of  a  ship  on  a 
long  voyage  !  The  distraction  and  tumult  are  at  some 
moments   terrific,  in   spite   of   everything   that   has   been 

i6 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

written  about  a  vessel's  being  in  perfect  order  to  a  sailor's 
eye  when  leaving  port.  We  have  been  on  two  large  ships 
now  when  getting  under  way,  and  all  I  have  to  say  on  the 
subject  is,  that  it  is  wonderful  how  much  disturbance  and 
disorder  can  be  gathered  into  so  small  a  space  as  a  ship's 
deck.  We  were  told  to  be  on  board  by  nine  o'clock,  as 
the  tide  would  serve  soon  afterward,  and  we  would  haul  out 
about  ten.  At  the  stipulated  hour,  then,  we  went  over  the 
side  and  found  that  the  crew  had  just  come  down.  They 
were  collected  together  in  the  waist,  and  in  the  centre  of 
the  group  stood  a  hard-looking  individual  whom  I  took  for 
the  shipping-master.  He  was  haranguing  the  men,  who 
seemed  to  listen  intently,  though  I  couldn't  hear  what  was 
said  ;  and  when  I  strolled  to  the  break  of  the  poop  to  be 
nearer  to  him,  he  grufHy  commanded  me  to  "go  'way  from 
there,  wall  you. ' '  Why  he  did  so  it  is  impossible  to  say, 
unless  he  was  engaged  in  some  unlawful  transaction.  This 
was,  no  doubt,  the  reason,  as  there  is  no  attempt  made  by 
the  United  States  authorities  to  enforce  the  laws  relating  to 
the  shipping  of  seamen.  By  and  by  this  creature  took  his 
disagreeable  countenance  over  the  side,  and  immediately 
those  who  were  not  too  drunk  w^ere  turned  to  at  various 
odd  jobs  about  the  decks.  Some  of  the  men,  however, 
were  too  far  gone  to  even  stand  upright  alone,  so  the  two 
mates  seized  half  a  dozen  of  them  and  drove  them  forward 
and  into  the  forecastle,  the  door  of  which  was  then  locked, 
and  the  men  were  left  to  themselves  to  sleep  off  some  of 
the  effects  of  South  Street  grog.  Those  who  come  aboard 
in  this  condition  generally  have  a  bottle  or  two  each  of  rum 
concealed  about  them,  and  after  a  vigorous  search  the  mate 
found  himself  possessed  of  several  quarts  of  very  bad  grog, 
which  he  hove  into  the  river. 

Several  of  our  relatives  and  friends  had  come  down  to 
.see  us  off,  and,  seated  aft  by  the  wheel-house,  they  seemed 

17 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

to  take  deep  interest  in  the  rakish  fellows  who  were  to  be 
our  companions,  as  it  were,  for  four  or  five  months.  On  the 
whole,  they  were  a  very  decent-looking  crowd  ;  but  when 
the  second  mate  sung  out,  ' '  Come  up  here  a  couple  of  you, 
and  give  us  a  hand  with  this  tow  Hne,"  and  all  hands  came 
stumbling  up  the  poop  ladders  and  lumbered  aft  with  that 
fixed,  iodiotic  stare  of  half-intoxicated  men  trying  to  show 
how  very  sober  they  are,  we  observed  that  our  relatives 
shuddered  as  they  thought  of  our  being  imprisoned  for 
maybe  half  a  year  with  this  company  of  ruffians,  as  they, 
no  doubt,  supposed  the  men  to  be. 

A  remarkable  feature  of  the  departure  of  our  ship  was 
the  crowd  that  had  gathered  to  see  us  off.  A  body  of  men 
and  boys  to  the  number  of  at  least  two  hundred  were 
ranged  along  the  pier,  minutely  criticising  the  ship  and  the 
way  in  which  she  was  sparred,  as  well  as  the  probable 
length  of  voyage.  *'  It'll  be  Cape  Horn  in  July,"  said  one, 
"and  she'll  never  do  it  in  less  than  a  hundred  and  fifty." 
"  Guess  you  don't  know  the  old  man,  or  you  wouldn't  say 
that,"  said  his  neighbor.  **  If  Scruggs  don't  take  her  out 
under  a  hundred  and  twenty,  I'm  a  farmer."  Here  a 
movement  was  perceptible  among  the  crowd  ;  somebody 
seemed  to  be  elbowing  his  way  through  the  midst,  and  in 
another  moment  we  recognized  the  fierce  whiskers  of  Abner 
Scruggs  himself.  With  him  was  one  of  the  agents,  and 
they  both  seemed  angry  about  something  ;  but  the  captain 
greeted  us  very  amiably,  imparting  to  us  at  the  same  time 
the  unwelcome  news  that  he  must  now  clear  the  ship  of  all 
who  were  not  going  along.  Sad  farewells  were  said,  rela- 
tives and  friends  were  handed  over  the  gangway,  which 
was  instantly  drawn  on  board,  the  powerful  tow-boat  ' '  C. 
E.  Evarts' '  started  ahead,  and  we  began  to  move  slowly  out, 
stern  first,  into  the  rapid  current  of  the  East  River.  So 
imperceptibly  did  we  gather  way  that  it  was  a  minute  or 

i8 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

so  before  any  one  on  the  pier  saw  that  we  had  started  ; 
some  one  in  the  crowd  suddenly  perceived  it  and  shouted 
"she's  off  ;"  and  as  our  long,  slender  jib-boom  glided  out 
past  the  string-piece,  we  were  saluted  with  a  series  of  hearty 
cheers,  which  lasted  until  the  tugs  (for  another  joined  us) 
had  slued  the  ship  around  and  headed  her  for  Governor's 
Island.  On  the  way  down  the  river  we  passed  two  splendid 
iron  sailing  vessels, — the  German  ship  '*H.  Bischoff,"  which 
had  just  arrived  after  an  extraordinarily  long  passage  of  two 
hundred  and  eighteen  days  from  Hong  Kong  ;  and  the 
British  ship  "  Walter  H.  Wilson,"  being  one  of  only  a  few 
English  vessels  named  after  individuals. 

The  second  tow-boat  left  us  at  Governor's  Island,  and 
afterward  it  was  extremely  slow  work,  as  the  speed  at  no 
time  was  greater  than  four  knots  an  hour.  Off  Tompkins- 
ville  we  passed  the  battle-ship  "  Indiana"  and  the  cruiser 
"  New  York,"  each  of  which  we  saluted  with  three  dips  of 
the  ensign,  which  were  returned  in  kind.  We  could  see 
the  sailors  on  the  men-of-war  gather  in  crowds  to  watch  us 
drag  slowly  by,  for  it  is  not  so  very  frequently  nowadays 
that  a  large  ship  flying  the  stars  and  stripes  is  seen  on  her 
way  to  sea. 

In  the  lower  bay  we  found  a  very  light  southerly  wind 
blowing,  and  a  German  iron  bark  with  painted  ports  that  had 
passed  us  outward  bound,  returned  and  anchored  in  the 
Horseshoe,  not  caring  to  continue  under  conditions  some- 
what unfavorable.  However,  we  kept  on,  and  commenced 
to  make  sail  off  the  point  of  the  Hook  ;  and  I  must  here 
assert  that  I  never  saw  such  confusion  as  reigned  during 
this  operation.  The  disorder  when  hauling  into  the  stream 
was  bad  enough,  but  when  the  command  was  given  to  cast 
off  the  gaskets  the  ship  was  in  a  perfect  whirl  till  the  mizzen 
sky-sail  had  been  swayed  aloft,  and  as  it  takes  several  hours 
to  make  sail  when  first  leaving  port,  the  mates  were  almost 

19 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

out  of  their  minds  when  the  job  had  been  finished.  All 
hands  began  with  the  customary  blackguarding  of  the  men 
who  had  bent  the  sails,  and  the  second  mate  passed  the 
afternoon  taking  his  oath  that  he  *  *  never  did  see  quite  the 
like  of  the  mess  them  riggers  had  made  aloft,"  while  the 
men  were  jumping  about  the  decks  like  headless  chickens, 
trying  to  find  where  the  various  ropes  led  to,  for  no  two 
ships  are  rigged  alike.  It  may  be  imagined  how  confusing 
it  is  for  a  man  to  come  aboard  of  a  ship  and  find  that  some 
of  the  sheets  and  clew-lines  are  not  belayed  in  the  same 
place  as  in  the  vessel  that  he  left  only  a  week  ago.  Indeed 
an  intelligent  second  mate  will  often  be  two  or  three  days 
getting  the  ' '  hang' '  of  a  sailing  vessel. 

Before  dark,  though,  everything  had  been  straightened 
out,  and  the  ropes  coiled  away  over  the  pins,  and  the  decks 
at  length  began  to  assume  that  well-ordered  appearance  so 
attractive  in  a  large  square- rigger. 

The  men  are  a  far  better  lot  than  we  expected  to  find  in 
a  Cape-Horner,  and  most  of  them  are  on  the  sunny  side  of 
thirty-five,  though  there  are  two  or  three  old  hulks  among 
them.  About  three  o'clock  the  drunken  sailors  were 
hauled  out  of  the  forecastle,  and  they  were  a  sight  as  they 
yawed  around,  falling  over  ropes  and  capstan-bars.  As 
the  foretop-gallant-sail  was  being  sheeted  home,  the  captain 
went  down  on  the  main  deck  to  have  a  look  about  the  ship, 
when  to  our  intense  astonishment  a  young  tow-headed 
sailor,  the  drunkest  of  the  lot,  lurched  up  to  him,  and, 
leaning  against  the  skipper's  shoulder,  poured  some  tale  of 
woe  into  his  ear.  Now,  Captain  Scruggs  doesn't  look  like 
a  particularly  mild-tempered  person,  and  when  the  man 
held  out  a  ponderous  fist  to  shake  hands  with  him,  we 
didn't  know  what  was  going  to  happen.  But  the  captain 
gravely  gave  him  his  hand  and  nodded  his  head,  while  the 
man  lurched  forward  to  his  companions.     At  six  o'clock 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

Captain  Scruggs  said,  * '  I  don' t  believe  in  giving  grog  to 
sailors  at  any  time,  but  some  of  the  men  are  feeling  pretty 
well  used  up  from  the  hard  work  after  a  long  drunk  ashore, 
so  r  m  going  to  give  '  em  a  bracer. ' '  Forthwith  a  bucketful 
of  diluted  Jamaica  rum  was  served  out  at  the  cabin  door, 
each  man  as  his  pannikin  was  filled  nodding  his  thanks  to 
the  steward.  One  of  them,  however,  a  very  sinister-look- 
ing man,  tried  to  snatch  the  bucket  away  from  the  little 
steward  ;  but  the  skipper  caught  him  at  the  moment,  and 
then  for  the  first  time  we  heard  Captain  Scruggs' s  deep-sea 
voice.  The  man  was  so  scared  by  the  hurricane  of  words 
hurled  at  him  that  he  dropped  the  bucket,  which  luckily 
didn't  capsize,  and,  pulling  his  front  hair  to  the  skipper, 
insisted  that  it  wasn't  he  "  who  was  doin'  the  funny  busi- 
ness. ' ' 

Our  first  night  on  board  began  silently  and  peacefully, 
and  we  turned  in  early  after  the  turmoil  of  the  day. 

May  12 

"The  ship  was  cheered,  the  harbor  cleared, 
Merrily  did  we  drop, 
Below  the  kirk,  below  the  hill,  below  the 
Light-house  top. ' ' 

When  we  reached  the  deck  this  morning,  the  lofty  Nave- 
sink  highlands  had  vanished  beyond  the  horizon  and  we 
floated  alone  upon  the  ocean.  The  day  came  on  with  a 
fresh  southerly  wind  and  a  lively  sea.  My  wife  went  to 
bed  last  night  sea-sick,  and  this  morning  she  was  very  ill 
and  wholly  given  over  to  dismal  reflections.  The  motion 
was  quite  severe,  and  I  myself  felt  far  happier  on  deck  than 
below.  Indeed,  it  generally  takes  me  three  or  four  days 
to  grow  fully  accustomed  to  being  at  sea.  The  captain 
evidently  saw  that  I  wasn't  feeling  particularly  robust,  so 
he    instilled    life   into   me    by  asking  whether   I   wouldn't 

21 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

like  to  keep  the  meteorological  record  during  the  voyage, 
the  ship  being  provided  with  blanks  for  the  purpose 
by  the  Hydrographic  Office  at  Washington.  This  will 
be  very  interesting  work  for  me,  and  I  feel  quite  im- 
portant. 

If  a  man  commenced  guessing  what  we  in  the  cabin  had 
for  breakfast  to-day,  he  might  keep  on  indefinitely  without 
hitting  the  mark,  for  we  had  broiled  sweet-breads !  Pon- 
der on  this,  ye  landsmen  ;  a  week  hence,  though,  will  see 
the  end  of  our  ice  and  therefore  of  the  fresh  meat.  To 
our  surprise,  one  hundred  pounds  of  prime  beef,  mutton, 
and  chickens  for  broiling  came  down  about  an  hour  before 
we  sailed,  beautifully  packed  in  a  cask  in  alternate  layers 
of  meat  and  ice,  and  now  repose  under  the  forecastle  head 
in  a  cool  place.  No  doubt,  by  exercising  a  little  care, 
much,  for  us  aft,  may  be  accomplished  in  the  way  of  pro- 
longing our  Lucullian  banquets.  Imagine  a  fresh,  juicy 
roast  of  beef  off  Cape  Horn  ! 

Before  proceeding  with  the  history  of  our  voyage,  there 
may  be  some  readers  who  would  like  to  know  what  sort  of 
a  ship  this  is  in  which  we  are  journeying,  and  the  following 
is  a  description  of  the  vessel. 

The  ' '  Hosea  Higgins' '  is  a  powerful  wooden  ship,  a 
fraction  over  two  thousand  tons  net,  with  a  length  over  all 
of  two  hundred  and  sixty  feet,  a  beam  of  forty-four  feet, 
and  a  draught  of  twenty-five  ;  she  was  built  at  Waldoboro, 
Maine,  in  1885,  and  is  of  course  classed  A  i.  She  is  a 
three-master,  very  loftily  rigged,  as  nearly  all  Yankee  ships 
are,  crossing  three  sky-sail-yards,  and  her  mainyard  is 
ninety-five  feet  long.  There  is  but  one  house  on  the  main- 
deck,  but  it  is  a  very  large  one  and  contains  the  forecastle, 
sail-room,  galley,  and  carpenter-shop,  in  which  there  is  a 
twenty  horse-power  donkey  engine.  So  many  persons 
have  asked  us  at  various  times  about  the  cabins  of  sailing 

22 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

ships,  that  we  have  made  a  plan  of  the  saloon  and  state- 
rooms, which  appears  on  the  opposite  page. 

So  much  for  the  ship  ;  now  for  the  monarch  who  com- 
mands her.  Abner  Scruggs  is  one  of  a  very  large  family 
of  sea-faring  men,  and  hails  from  Rockland,  Maine  ;  in 
stature  he  is  not  exalted,  but  is  very  massive,  and  before  he 
grew  stout  was  no  doubt  a  powerful  man,  his  age  being 
about  fifty  years.  He  is  fierce  of  aspect,  with  bristling 
whiskers  and  dark  eyes  that  snap  like  electric  sparks  when 
angry  ;  and  I  have  never  known  a  man  who  could  utter 
his  commands  in  so  determined,  severe,  and  brittle  a 
voice. 

The  mate's  name  is  Leander  Goggins.  By  the  way,  on 
a  sailing  ship  the  man  who  holds  that  position  is  never 
called  the  chief  mate,  first  oiificer,  or  anything  except 
simply  *  *  the  mate, ' '  even  if  there  are  four  of  them.  Mr. 
Goggins  was  born  in  Chichester,  England,  about  fifty  years 
ago,  but  left  that  country  when  a  lad  and  became  a  citizen 
of  the  United  States,  an  unusual  performance  for  an  Eng- 
lishman, who  seldom  renounces  his  native  land.  He  is 
short  and  small  generally,  talks  with  a  terrific  cockney 
accent,  in  spite  of  his  thirty-five  years  in  and  about  America, 
and  possesses  one  of  those  countenances  which  you  can't 
tell  anything  about  ;  but  his  looks  are  not  in  his  favor. 
One  of  his  most  objectionable  points  is  his  fawning  servility, 
which  is  never  prominent  in  a  man  who  amounts  to  much, 
however  humble  his  station. 

The  second  mate,  Thomas  Rarx,  is  a  Nova  Scotian,  and 
is  a  large,  raw-boned,  hearty  man  with  a  fresh  complexion, 
and  is  therefore  the  mate's  antithesis.  You  would  never 
suppose  that  he  was  addicted  to  the  thumping  of  sailors, 
yet  this  is  one  of  the  most  important  duties  of  the  second 
mate  of  an  American  ship  ;  on  some  of  our  sailing  vessels 
it  seems  to  be  the  most  important.     Then  there  are  two 

23 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

bosuns  ;  one  of  them,  a  Brooklyn  youth,  is  a  weak-looking 
creature,  and  has  more  the  appearance  of  an  American 
District  Messenger  boy  than  that  of  bosun  of  a  Cape- 
Homer  ;  perhaps  his  name  has  crushed  his  spirit, — it  is 
Jimmie  Rumps.  But  the  other  bosun  is  a  brawny  Scot, 
David  MacFoy,  of  Troon  ;  he  is  a  splendid  man,  beauti- 
fully built,  tall,  straight,  very  good-looking,  and  is  some- 
what conceited,  handles  the  men  well,  and  has  a  cyclonic 
voice. 

The  cook  and  steward  are  both  natives  of  the  East. 
The  latter  is  from  Singapore,  and  is  therefore  a  true  Malay  ; 
blandness  seems  to  be  his  chief  attribute,  and  his  bashful- 
ness  allows  him  to  do  nothing  but  smile  and  back  out  of 
sight.  What  there  is  of  the  cook  seems  to  be  unex- 
ceptionable ;  he  is  a  Cantonite,  about  four  feet  and  a  half 
high,  weighs  possibly  ninety  pounds,  and  is  a  tip-top  sea- 
cook. 

Next  comes  the  carpenter,  whose  only  name  aboard  ship 
is  "Chips."  Instead  of  a  neat,  clean  person,  redolent  of 
pine  shavings  and  saw-dust,  our  carpenter  is  a  very  dirty, 
fat  individual,  who  appears  to  have  been  steeped  for  an 
indefinite  period  in  a  solution  of  kerosene  and  lamp-black. 
Most  Finns  (why  Russian  Finn  ?  The  man  who  says  that 
will  say  hop-toad)  seem  to  be  dirty,  however,  so  that  he  is 
no  exception  ;  in  weight  he  would  go  well  over  two  hun- 
dred and  thirty  pounds,  and,  as  a  whole,  is  the  most  objec- 
tionable-looking person  whom  I  have  ever  seen.  You 
could  never  call  him  Chips.  As  for  Sammie,  the  boy,  he 
is  a  short,  thick,  young  Jew,  not  prepossessing  in  appear- 
ance, and  with  an  apparently  wonderful  capacity  for  doing 
nothing  ;  like  Peter  Simple,  he  looks  as  though  he  could 
stand  a  great  deal  of  sleep.  We  have  seen  so  little  of  the 
sailors  as  yet  that,  of  course,  no  notion  of  any  of  them  can 
be  formed. 

24 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

We  did  fairly  well  as  to  distance  sailed  in  the  twenty-four 
hours,  and  at  noon  we  were  one  hundred  and  seventy-five 
miles  from  Sandy  Hook. 

May  13 

This  was  a  glorious  morning,  with  a  fresh  breeze  from 
the  southward.  Last  night  the  wind  came  whistling  along 
in  strong  puffs,  and  we  had  to  stow  both  sky-sails  and 
royals  for  it  ;  and  when  I  went  on  deck  at  7.30,  quite  a 
hummocky  sea  was  running  from  the  southwest.  My  wife 
was  exceedingly  sea-sick  all  night  long,  and  clung  tena- 
ciously to  the  theory  that  she  would  perish  within  twenty- 
four  hours.  At  about  ten  this  morning,  though,  both  wind 
and  sea  having  gone  down  somewhat,  my  wife  consented 
to  go  on  deck,  so  we  arranged  chairs  on  the  cabin-house, 
and  she  stayed  there  all  day,  improving  every  minute. 
By  supper-time  she  had  a  hearty  longing  for  food,  and  we 
have  no  more  misgivings  as  to  sea-sickness  for  the  rest  of 
the  voyage. 

I  rather  like  the  way  in  which  the  second  mate  goes  to 
work  ;  he  appears  to  be  a  very  fine  seaman,  and  this  is 
perhaps  the  most  desirable  and  necessary  of  all  the  acquire- 
ments of  a  second  mate.  He  has  also  considerable  quiet 
humor  ;  yesterday  afternoon  he  caught  sight  of  one  of  the 
men  who  had  not  yet  recovered  the  full  use  of  his  faculties, 
fussing  about  on  the  mainyard  ;  and  after  watching  him 
for  a  few  moments  he  sung  out,  "Mainyard  there,  what 
the  h are  you  gapin'  at  !  Cast  oE  that  yard-arm  gas- 
ket ;  d'ye  think  yer  messperized ?"  After  which,  he  rolled 
forward,  and  we  could  see  him  chuckling  and  shaking  at  his 
own  conceit. 

Our  fresh  breeze  wafted  us  across  two  hundred  and 
twenty  miles  of  the  North  Atlantic  yesterday,  and  at  noon 
we  were  in  latitude  39°  22'  north  ;  longitude,  65°  8'  west. 

25 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE    HORN 

May  14 

Another  fine  day  with  the  same  fresh  breeze  from  the 
southward,  and  the  captain  is  busy  shaking  hands  with 
himself  on  his  good  of!ing  ;  remembering  the  German  who 
turned  back  and  anchored  in  the  Horseshoe,  he  mutters 
from  time  to  time,  ' '  Oh,  I  wish  I  was  under  Sandy  Hook, 
I  don't  think."  We  couldn't  carry  the  sky-sails  last  night, 
but  they  were  set  this  forenoon,  and  we  are  now  doing  fully 
ten  knots.  My  wife  has  entirely  recovered,  and  is  amusing 
herself  with  the  three  cats  on  board.  One  of  them  is  a 
splendid  animal,  a  pure  Maltese,  whose  companion  is  a  so- 
called  coon  cat  ;  both  of  them  belong  to  the  captain.  The 
third  beast  is  the  mate's,  an  unfortunate,  weird,  black- 
and-white  alley -cat,  tall  and  lank,  and  as  hideous  as  a  night- 
mare. 

It  is  remarkable  how  good  the  eating  is  on  board  ;  for 
although  on  many  ships  the  meat,  flour,  etc.,  are  often 
the  best  that  can  be  bought,  everything  is  frequently  spoiled 
by  villianous  cookery  ;  even  our  coffee  is  as  good  as  people 
generally  have  ashore.  Captain  Scruggs  told  us  before  we 
sailed  that  he  was  a  dyspeptic,  and  said  that  he  had  to  be 
very  particular  about  what  he  ate.  On  this  we  somewhat 
callously  congratulated  ourselves  ;  and,  sure  enough,  the 
skipper's  stomachic  infirmities  have  insured  us  none  but  the 
best  of  everything.  It  might  be  here  remarked  that  we 
brought  absolutely  nothing  with  us  in  the  way  of  pro- 
visions. It  is  customary  for  captains  to  ascertain  what 
their  prospective  passengers'  preferences  are  before  storing 
the  ship  ;  and,  as  I  knew  the  company  who  had  the  vitual- 
ling  of  the  ship,  it  was  certain  that  nothing  better  could  be 
bought.  Indeed,  the  average  ship  in  these  days  carries  such 
an  abundance  and  variety  of  wholesome  food,  that  unless  one 
cared  to  take  along  such  absurd  edibles  as  pates  and  the 
like,  the  food  question  can  very  well  take  care  of  itself. 

26 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

The  mate,  Leander  Goggins,  entertained  us  at  breakfast 
this  morning  with  some  more  or  less  remarkable  conversa- 
tion. It  really  seems  impossible  that  a  man  can  hate  his 
native  country  as  he  does  ;  and  he  gave  an  affirmative  reply 
to  Scott's  famous  question, — 

"  Breathes  there  the  man  with  soul  so  dead 
Who  never  to  himself  hath  said, 
'  This  is  my  own,  my  native  land?'  " 

The  skipper  jollies  him  up  constantly  about  his  still 
being  an  Englishman  in  spite  of  his  citizen's  papers,  and 
this  morning  the  mate  couldn't  withstand  it  any  longer, 
and  delivered  himself  as  follows,  with  great  intensity  : 
"  Cap'n  Scruggs,  sir,  I  thank  God  I  left  Hengland  w'en  I 
were  eleven  year  hold,  sir.  I  tell  you,  cap'n,  and  you  too, 
sir,  it  ain't  no  fit  country  for  a  man  to  call  himself  a  native 
of.  A  pore  man  carn't  take  of?  'is  'at  to  a  lord,  sir  ;  ho, 
no  ;  'e's  got  to  bow  and  sheer  and  pull  'is  front  'air  ;  and 
if  hit's  a  lady,  why  'e  mustn't  look  at  all."  This  was 
enough  to  disgust  any  one  with  him  ;  and  he  made  so 
strange  an  appearance  with  his  weather-stained  face,  bleary 
little  eyes,  and  heavily  veined  temples,  that  I  almost  shouted 
when  he  finished.  A  great  slashing  scar  on  his  chin,  when 
his  stubby  beard  permits  it  to  be  seen,  doesn't  add  much 
to  his  personal  charms.  Later  on  he  began  to  talk  about 
Captain  Bob  Waterman,  perhaps  the  most  unpleasantly 
notorious  ship-master  in  the  old  New  York- California  trade. 
The  mate  averred  that  he  had  sailed  with  '*  Cap'n  Bob," 
and  he  added  that  the  yarn  about  Cap'n  Bob's  having  cast 
off  the  lee  main-brace  in  a  Cape  Horn  squall  one  night, 
jerking  half  a  dozen  men  into  the  sea  just  because  he  didn't 
like  them,  he  had  always  considered  as  probable.  "'E 
shot  'is  own  child,  you  know,"  pleasantly  added  Mr.  Gog- 
gins, as  though  he  were  mentioning  the  killing  of  a  chicken. 

27 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

At  noon  we  were  six  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  Sandy- 
Hook,  in  latitude  38°  58'  north  ;  longitude,  60°  .14'  west. 

May  15 

Glorious  weather,  with  southwest  winds  as  fresh  as  ever  ; 
it  is  growing  much  warmer,  and  the  temperature  of  the  water 
has  risen  to  71°,  making  it  possible  to  bathe  in  it  without 
much  gasping. 

Shortly  after  breakfast  the  captain  asked  us  if  we  wouldn't 
like  to  go  forward  and  see  him  catch  a  bonito,  as  there  were 
several  playing  about  the  forefoot.  So  we  went  up  on  the 
forecastle  head,  sat  down  on  the  gammoning-iron,  and 
watched  the  skipper  creep  out  on  the  bowsprit  with  a  cod- 
line  and  a  hook  baited  with  a  bit  of  rag  in  his  hand. 
Then  he  went  through  various  manoeuvres  necessary  in 
the  capture  of  these  deep-sea  fish,  and  incidentally  nearly 
manoeuvred  himself  of!  the  jib-boom.  The  scheme  con- 
sisted in  dropping  the  rag  swiftly  down  till  it  touched  the 
water,  and  instantly  jerking  it  upward  again,  to  excite  the 
imagination  of  the  fish,  I  suppose.  They  looked  very  fine 
darting  about  at  great  speed  several  feet  beneath  the  sur- 
face, being  of  a  brilliant  hue,  and  at  first  we  thought  that 
they  were  young  dolphins, — that  is,  the  dolphin  of  sailors. 
At  length,  after  innumerable  vain  efforts,  accompanied 
with  much  hard  breathing  and  damning  of  the  fish's  eyes, 
the  captain  hooked  one  and  hauled  him  up,  snapping  and 
fighting  till  he  was  dropped  into  a  gunny  sack  held  by  one 
of  the  men.  He  looked  like  a  plump  mackerel,  weighed 
six  pounds,  and  will  afford  a  little  variety  to  our  evening 
repast. 

This  afternoon  the  skipper  said  that  I  ought  to  have  a 
pair  of  sea- slippers  ;  so  he  vanished  into  the  slop-chest  (the 
technical  name  for  the  apartment  w^here  all  sorts  of  wearing 
apparel  for  the  crew  is  kept)  and  emerged  with  the  most 

28 


y         4 

F 

L 

E                       E 

1        -J 

A            C 

E 

nC                                                                     C  r 

- 

E 

B 

E 

s 

;j 

E                                                   E 

., 

C 

Og 

i 

E 

£ 

1(1 

H 

5 

11 

- 

E 

j 

0 

1:.' 

E                                                    E 

E      - 

o 

J        E 

PLAN   OF   CABIN 

I,  captain's  room  (ours);  2.  spare  room;  3,  office; 
4,  steward;  5,  pantry;  6,  second  mate;  7,  bath-room; 
8,  spare  room  (captain's);  9,  chart-room;  10.  store- 
room; II.  carpenter;  12,  mate.  A,  harmonium:  B, 
table;  C  chairs;  D,  sofa;  E,  exits;  F,  companion- 
way  to  pooj) ;  (i,  mizzen-mast  ;  H,  dininsj-table ;  1, 
stove;   J,  veslibuits;    K,  exits  on  main-deck. 


BY   WAY   OF  CAPE  HORN 

uncomfortable  looking  foot-gear  that  I  ever  beheld.  The 
slippers  (?)  were  made  of  immensely  thick  red  grain- 
leather,  with  heavy,  pegged  soles,  as  inflexible  as  plate 
armor  and  as  easy-looking  as  Belgian  sabots.  The  captain 
said  that  they  were  as  tight  as  sea-boots,  if  I  kept  the 
water  from  flowing  over  the  tops,  adding,  "  I'll  tell  you 
what  I  do  :  in  cold,  wet  weather  I  just  haul  a  pair  of  heavy 
s'^cks  right  over  the  outside  of  the  slippers  and  make  boots 
of  em." 

At  a  quarter  to  five  this  afternoon  we  sighted  a  steamer 
on  the  lee  bow,  and  as  there  was  a  chance  of  signalling  her, 
and  she  was  bound  to  the  westward,  we  put  our  helm  up  a 
little  and  kept  away  a  couple  of  points.  At  5. 30  she  was 
abreast  of  us,  and  we  hoisted  our  number  and  "  report  me 
all  well,"  to  which  she  hoisted  her  answering  pennant. 
She  was  a  very  large  English  cargo-boat,  one  of  that  new 
style  of  tramp  freighters  with  one  funnel,  two  pole- masts, 
and  a  great  sheer.  She  seemed  to  be  making  more  than 
ten  knots  (though  the  snow-drift  under  her  bows  indicated 
about  twenty-five),  and  should  therefore  reach  New  York 
in  time  to  be  reported  in  next  Wednesday's  papers.  Lati- 
tude at  noon,  38°  31'  north  ;  longitude,  55°  2'  west. 

May  16 

Our  first  Sabbath  at  sea  broke  calm  and  warm.  When 
we  went  on  deck  at  seven  bells  not  a  breath  of  air  was 
stirring,  the  ship  had  no  steerage-way,  and  an  oily  calm  lay 
upon  the  face  of  the  deep,  recalling  memories  of  our  pre- 
vious voyage,  when,  in  this  very  part  of  the  ocean  in  the 
month  of  July,  we  averaged  twenty  miles  a  day  for  twenty- 
one  days.  Four  hundred  and  twenty  miles  in  three  weeks 
wouldn't  burn  a  ship's  copper  of!  ;  it  is  about  three-quarters 
of  one  day's  run  of  the  fastest  express  steamers. 

It  was  truly  hot  this  afternoon,  for  the  calm  prevailed  all 

29 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

day  ;  but  fortunately  there  was  quite  a  swell  present,  in 
which  we  rolled  about,  creating  pleasant  draughts  from  the 
slatting  sails.  How  orderly  and  quiet  a  ship  is  on  a  Sunday 
afternoon  when  the  weather  is  mild  and  clear  !  Every 
rope,  every  implement,  is  in  its  place,  the  decks  have  been 
washed  as  clean  as  hard  scrubbing  can  make  them,  and  the 
brass  mountings  shine  like  mirrors.  Coiled  away  in  shady 
nooks  lie  the  watch,  each  with  a  book  or  paper  in  his  hand, 
deep  buried  in  its  contents.  Some  recline  in  the  water- 
ways under  shadow  of  the  bulwarks,  others  in  the  shade  of 
the  deck-house  ;  some  on  the  forecastle-head,  where  cool 
airs  circulate  from  the  swinging  of  the  big  foresail  and  jibs. 
The  only  audible  sounds  are  the  flapping  of  the  sails,  the 
somnolent  cheeping  of  the  blocks,  and  the  working  of  the 
rudder-head  as  the  ship  rolls  about  in  the  swell,  with  per- 
haps the  low  tones  of  a  man's  voice  humming  an  air  to 
himself  on  the  main-hatch.  A  more  peaceful  scene  it 
would  be  impossible  to  find  than  that  presented  by  a  large 
ship  thus  becalmed, — more  tranquil  and  solemn  than  the 
little  country  hamlet  dozing  in  the  drowsiness  of  a  mid- 
summer^ Sabbath  afternoon. 

Let  a  breeze  come  along,  though,  from  an  unexpected 
quarter,  and  in  an  instant  everything  starts  into  life. 
"  Square  the  crojjick-yard  !"  comes  with  startling  sudden- 
ness from  the  officer  of  the  watch.  In  a  moment  the  half- 
hidden  forms  of  the  men  spring  with  a  bound  from  their 
cool  retreats,  and  the  forward  part  of  the  ship  resounds 
with  their  deep  voices  as  they  come  rolling  aft,  each  repeat- 
ing the  order,  "Square  the  crojjick-yard,  sir."  Aft  they 
come  in  a  shuffling  trot, — not  slovenly,  but  in  a  cheerful 
way, — and  the  ponderous  yards  creak  slowly  round  to  the 
hoarse  tones  of  the  bosun. 

It  is  during  such  scenes  as  this  that  the  magic  of  the  sea 
takes  hold  of  the  imaginative  mind.     The  remembrance  of 

30 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

gales  of  wind,  and  of  hail  and  sleet  and  snow  fade  utterly 
from  the  memory,  and  the  mind  is  conscious  only  of  the 
inexpressible  charm  which  the  mighty  deep  exerts  over 
those  who  truly  love  the  sea  and  go  down  to  it  in  ships. 

After  breakfast  this  morning  the  mate  told  me  how 
oranges  are  loaded  at  Tahiti,  by  hauling  the  vessels  up 
under  the  trees  which  overhang  the  water  and  shaking  the 
fruit  into  the  hold.  Already  Mr.  Goggins  is  beginning  to 
growl  at  the  weather.  What  he  wants  all  the  time  is  "just 
enough  to  show  the  sky-sails  to,  sir."  We  had  a  little 
more  wind  after  breakfast,  it  is  true,  but  it  came  from  the 
southeast  and  let  go  at  ten.  Last  night,  just  before  we 
turned  in,  some  Mother  Gary's  chickens  which  were  fiying 
around  the  ship  began  to  utter  their  quaint,  plaintive  cries, 
at  which  Gaptain  Scruggs  and  the  mate  shuddered  and 
looked  grave.  I  asked  Mr.  Goggins  what  was  wrong,  and 
he  replied,  ''Whenever  the  blarsted  birds  cry,  there's  sure 
to  be  a  long  spell  o'  light  weather." 

It  is  strange  what  disdain  merchant  skippers  have  for 
yachting,  nor  can  they  ever  understand  why  a  man  should 
expend  so  much  on  a  vessel  without  trying  to  derive  some 
income  from  the  same.  I  happened  to  mention  to  the 
skipper  last  evening  that  I  once  chartered  a  pine-apple 
schooner  at  Nassau  and  took  a  party  of  friends  on  a  cruise 
through  the  Bahamas.  ''After  shells,  I  suppose,"  quoth 
the  worthy  man,  thinking  that  my  scheme  was  to  load  up 
with  the  beautiful  shells  found  in  those  islands  and  take 
them  across  to  the  mainland  and  sell  them.  Again  I  told 
him  that  my  most  cherished  scheme  was  to  navigate  the 
South  Seas  in  an  auxiliary  yacht.  "Yes,"  he  answered, 
"  it's  a  good  notion  ;  trading  ain't  dead  there  yet."  Per- 
haps the  most  amusing  incident  of  this  sort  happened  once 
when  I  was  on  board  a  yacht  lying  at  Vineyard  Haven. 
A  large  three-masted  schooner  came  in,   having  lost  her 

31 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

mizzentop-mast.  The  owner  of  the  yacht  pulled  aboard 
of  the  schooner  and  looked  her  over,  and  then  asked  her 
captain  and  mate  back  to  the  yacht.  Of  course  they  ad- 
mired her  exceedingly,  and  as  she  was  quite  a  large  boat, 
they  observed  that  it  must  cost  a  sight  to  run  her.  Finally, 
when  they  were  about  to  return  to  their  own  vessel,  the 
skipper  asked,  gravely  and  in  perfect  good  faith,  *  *  What  I 
don't  understand  is,  how  do  you  make  her  pay?"  Lati- 
tude, 37°  50'  north  ;  longitude,  53°  40'  west 

May  17 

Perhaps  we  may  change  our  opinion  before  the  voyage 
is  over.  Perhaps  we  may  not.  I  have  seen  enough  of  the 
skipper  to  know  that  this  voyage  is  not  going  to  be  ex- 
quisitely pleasant  for  ourselves,  the  mates,  or  the  men.  A 
little  disturbance  started  this  forenoon  in  the  following 
manner  :  A  barrel  of  carrots,  onions,  and  parsnips  had 
been  rolled  under  the  forecastle-head  by  the  mate,  who 
then  forgot  all  about  it  ;  so  that,  instead  of  giving  it  to  the 
cook,  he  allowed  the  green  stuff  to  wilt  and  wither  in  the 
heat  of  the  past  forty-eight  hours.  The  captain  heard  of 
this  for  the  first  time  to-day,  and  ever  since  not  a  single 
thing  has  gone  right  for  him.  We  first  noticed  that  some- 
thing was  amiss  with  the  skipper  by  the  tone  he  used  to  the 
helmsman  at  eleven  o'  clock,  when  he  told  him  to  * '  hold  her 
up  a  little  more. ' '  The  man  obeyed  instantly,  but  made 
an  inexcusable  mistake  :  he  forgot  to  answer,  and  in  this  he 
was,  of  course,  wrong,  for  he  should  have  either  repeated 
the  order  or  said,  ' '  Ay,  ay,  sir. ' '  The  captain  then  told 
him  in  forcible  language  what  would  happen  to  men  who 
failed  to  answer.  We  thought  that  the  matter  was  settled, 
when  the  mate  came  aft  from  the  break  of  the  poop  on  a 
run,  thrust  his  fist  through  the  wheel-house  window  in  the 
man' s  face  and  snarled,  ' '  Now,  luk  ud  '  ere,  ain'  t  I  told  yer 

32 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

to  answer  vv'en  yer  spoken  to,  eh?  Well,  you  just  do  it, 
or  /'//  teach  yer  to  open  yer  mouth  ;  I'll  fix  yer." 
Innocent  words,  comparatively  speaking,  but  no  one  can 
imagine  the  intensity  of  emphasis  on  the  "fix,"  or  the 
malignant,  hazing  tone  which  the  mate  threw  into  his 
threat.  The  skipper  had  just  **  jumped  on"  the  mate, 
and,  of  course,  the  latter  must  find  some  one  to  retaliate 
on,  and  here  was  an  opportunity.  The  boy  Sammie,  too, 
came  in  for  his  share  of  attention,  but  it  must  be  said  that 
this  slothful  youth  deserved  it  ;  and,  finally,  the  skipper  and 
mate  came  to  words  at  dinner  about  a  barrel  of  hard  bread. 
Captain  Scruggs  graduated  years  ago  with  high  honors  in 
the  art  of  nagging,  and  at  last  he  provoked  Mr.  Goggins 
beyond  endurance.  "  Goddlemighty,  Cap'n  Scruggs,  if  I 
ain't  seen  no  ship-bread,  'ow  could  I  break  it  out?"  We 
expected  an  explosion  from  the  old  man,  but  he  only 
tugged  fiercely  at  his  whiskers  and  shut  the  mate  up  with, 
"All  right,  sir;  all  right.  We  won't  continue  the  argu- 
ment." As  the  day  wore  on  his  temper  grew  worse  and 
worse  ;  and  when  I  called  his  attention  to  a  school  of  fish 
playing  alongside,  supposing  that  he  would  like  to  see 
them,  he  answered  tartly,  "Very  well,  sir;  you'd  better 
jump  overboard  and  catch  'em."  I  thought  it  best  not  to 
reply  ;  but  it  was  very  annoying,  for  some  of  the  men  hard 
by  smiled  broadly. 

It  must  be  acknowledged  that  the  thought  of  being 
obliged  to  sit  opposite  to  this  man  at  table  three  times  a 
day  for  at  least  four  months  is  a  disagreeable  one,  and 
this  is  not  a  cheerful  meditation  at  the  very  beginning  of 
a  voyage.  Yet,  the  captain  has  proved  that  in  some 
ways  he  is  very  kind  and  considerate  ;  but  he  has  that 
hard,  flinty  voice  and  overbearing  manner,  an  instance  of 
which  the  reader  can  doubtless  recall  among  his  seafaring 
friends. 

3  33 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

Throughout  nearly  the  entire  day  we  had  an  almost  per< 
feet  calm  ;  this,  of  course,  aggravated  the  old  man's  tem- 
per, for  he  seems  to  be  a  most  intolerant  individual.  So 
little  headway  did  we  make  that  at  noon  we  were  in  latitude 
37°  22'  north  ;  longitude,  52°  39'  west. 

MAy  18 

We  had  another  sample  of  American  ship  ' '  discipline' ' 
this  morning.  We  went  on  deck  at  7.30  to  eat  some 
fruit  before  breakfast,  and  as  soon  as  the  skipper  hove  in 
sight  it  was  plain  that  he  was  looking  for  trouble.  Presently 
the  mate  appeared,  and  it  was  evident  from  his  countenance 
that  he  had  found  the  trouble  the  captain  was  looking  for. 
In  a  little  while  two  of  the  men  came  aft,  each  with  a  case 
of  oil  in  his  arms,  which  they  deposited  on  deck  by  the 
wheel-house,  preparatory  to  passing  them  down  into  the 
lazarette.  One  of  the  hands,  Briin,  an  inoffensive,  quiet 
Norwegian  (the  most  peaceable  sailors  in  the  world),  hap- 
pened to  put  his  case  down  with  the  lettered  side  under- 
neath, which  displeased  the  skipper,  who  asked  him,  in  his 
ogre's  voice,  if  he  hadn't  told  him  the  way  to  handle  case-oil. 
Now,  the  man  was  evidently  doing  the  very  best  he  could, 
which  was  evident  from  his  great  desire  to  please,  and  also 
from  the  way  in  which  his  hands  shook.  Finally  he  grew 
so  nervous  that  when  he  picked  up  the  case  to  turn  it  over, 
it  slipped  and  fell  with  a  loud  noise  on  the  deck.  At  this 
the  poor  fellow  jumped  back  several  feet  and  put  up  his  arm 
to  ward  off  the  expected  blow  ;  but  the  skipper  saw  plainly 
that  it  was  an  accident  and  was  going  to  let  the  matter 
pass,  when  the  mate  jumped  in  between  them  and,  catch- 
ing a  firm  hold  of  Briin' s  right  ear,  gave  it  a  terrific 
wrench,  that  slued  him  round  and  brought  him  to  his 
knees,  while  he  yelled,  "Ain't  /told  yer  how  to  lay  them 
cases  down  ?'  * 

34 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

Such  scenes  as  this  are  extremely  unpleasant,  particu- 
larly as  they  are  always  accompanied  with  boisterous  lan- 
guage ;  and,  as  we  saw  the  whole  affair,  I  can  say  with  cer- 
tainty that  it  was  absolutely  unprovoked  and  unnecessary. 
If  the  man  had  been  of  a  surly  or  ugly  disposition,  and  in- 
tentionally put  the  case  down  wrongly,  some  excuse  might 
be  in  order  for  the  mate's  conduct  ;  but  this  fellow  has 
always  been  unobtrusive,  and  actually  jumps  in  his  desire 
to  please.  It  is  generally  men  of  a  certain  temperament 
that  mates  pick  out  to  haze, — men  with  no  appearance  of 
*'sand."  I  have  never  known  a  man  of  Mr.  Goggins's 
sort  to  try  it  on  a  determined-looking,  deliberate  seaman. 

How  calm  it  was  until  five  o'clock  yesterday  afternoon  ! 
The  sea  was  as  if  oiled  and  of  a  rich  blue,  fascinating  to  con- 
template and  deeper  in  color  than  usual.  No  stream  that 
ever  cascaded  down  a  mountain-side  could  approach  in 
transparency  the  sea-water  as  found  in  the  remote  solitudes 
of  the  ocean.  We  had  a  strange  sunset,  too,  the  horizon 
being  apparently  at  an  immense  distance,  with  whole  chains 
of  ragged,  golden-tipped  clouds,  like  jagged  mountain 
rocks,  seemingly  a  hundred  miles  away.  We  had  a  fine 
breeze  all  day  from  east-northeast,  which,  it  is  true, 
jammed  us  on  the  wind,  but  it  was  fresh  enough  to  blow 
us  along  at  seven  knots.  Latitude  at  noon,  36°  5'  north  ; 
longitude,  50°  36'  west. 

May  19 

This  was  perhaps  the  finest  day  which  we  have  had  yet. 
It  broke  with  the  heavens  obscured  ;  but  during  the  fore- 
noon the  clouds  melted  under  the  influence  of  the  sun  and 
an  afternoon  of  dazzling  brilliancy  followed.  A  fresh 
breeze  whistled  out  of  the  east-northeast,  giving  us  as 
much  as  we  could  show  the  sky-sails  to  ;  and  the  ocean 
was  covered  with  foam-topped  waves  like  immense  snow 

35 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE  HORN 

flakes,   the  crests  of  which  often  came  tumbHng  in  glee 
over  the  weather  side. 

Yesterday  afternoon  at  two  o'clock  we  rose  the  upper 
canvas  of  a  bark  on  the  port  bow,  bound  in  the  same 
direction  as  ourselves  ;  at  4.30  she  was  abeam,  and  at 
seven  in  the  evening,  her  trucks  had  vanished  below  the 
horizon  astern  !  In  truth  this  ship  is  a  flyer  on  a  wind,  for, 
in  order  to  pass  the  other  vessel  in  so  short  a  time,  we 
must  have  sailed  almost,  if  not  quite,  two  miles  to  her  one. 
Again,  this  morning  at  daylight,  we  made  out  the  sails  of 
a  ship  hull  down  to  leeward  ;  she  was  then  abeam,  steering 
about  southeast,  but  during  the  afternoon  we  ran  her  out 
of  sight,  too.  For  the  past  twenty-four  hours  we  have 
certainly  done  splendidly,  logging  one  hundred  and  ninety- 
eight  miles,  hauled  as  close  to  the  wind  as  possible.  Cap- 
tain Scruggs  even  went  so  far  as  to  say  that  he  thought 
that  there  were  only  two  other  American  ships  afloat  that 
could  have  made  more  than  two  hundred  miles  to-day  by 
the  wind,— the  "  Henry  B.  Hyde"  and  the* 'A.  G.  Ropes." 
Later  I  asked  the  skipper  which  he  considered  was  the 
finest  all-round  wooden  ship  ander  the  flag  to-day  ;  his 
answer  instantly  was,  * '  the  '  Hyde'  by  all  odds  ;  and  not 
only  that,  but  she's  one  of  the  finest  ships  that  ever  came 
out  of  a  Maine  ship-yard. ' '  She  w^as  built  about  ten  years 
ago  in  Bath,  by  John  McDonald,  a  Nova  Scotian  and  a 
pupil  of  the  famous  Donald  Mackay  of  Boston,  who  turned 
out  so  many  celebrated  clippers  thirty  or  forty  years  ago. 
The  "Hyde"  is  a  large  ship,  registering  twenty-five  hun- 
dred tons  ;  but  in  spite  of  her  size  she  is  a  three-master, 
being,  I  believe,  the  second  largest  ship  of  this  rig  at  the 
present  time,  the  British  ship  ' '  Ditton' '  heading  the  roll 
of  three-masters  with  a  net  tonnage  of  about  twenty-eight 
hundred.  Almost  all  sailing  vessels  of  over  two  thousand 
tons  register  are  now  built  with  four  masts. 

36 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

Last  night  I  was  talking  with  the  mate  about  sea-birds, 
and  he  was  giving  me  considerable  information  of  the  birds 
on  the  Pacific  coast,  when  he  said,  suddenly,  "  I  see  a  'awk 
at  sea  once,  sir."  ''Indeed,"  said  I,  "that  is  very  in- 
teresting, for  the  bird  is  almost  extinct  ;  it  must  have  been 
a  long  time  ago,  for  even  the  eggs  now  are  quite  valuable. ' ' 
He  looked  very  hard  at  me  then  for  a  few  moments,  when 
the  captain  called  him  away  ;  and  for  some  time  I  won- 
dered why  he  had  stared  at  me  so  fixedly  ;  when  all  at 
once  I  realized  that  he  meant  hawk,  not  auk  !  Latitude, 
34°  4'  north  ;  longitude,  47°  15'  west. 

May  20 

Light  showers  prevailed  this  morning  early,  but  at  ten 
the  clouds  disappeared,  leaving  a  sky  of  deep  cobalt  and 
a  glorious,  sparkling  sea.  Fresh  winds  from  east-north- 
east blew  all  day,  giving  us  frequently  ten  knots,  the  ship 
driving  along  with  the  even,  modulated  swing  of  a  pen- 
dulum. The  mate  says  that  Captain  Scruggs  is  so  lucky 
in  making  fast  passages  that  in  New  York  they  say  that  he 
carries  a  fair  wind  in  his  pocket  and  spills  it  out  when 
necessary.  However  true  this  may  be,  the  direction  of 
the  wind  could  be  easily  improved  at  the  present  time,  by 
hauling  more  to  the  northward,  so  that  we  could  come  up 
a  little  ;  our  position,  too,  would  be  a  far  better  one  if  we 
were  five  or  six  degrees  more  to  the  eastward,  as  it  is  a 
little  too  soon  to  make  so  much  southing.  Nolens  volcns, 
though,  southeast  has  been  our  course  for  some  time,  and 
the  skipper  jocosely  remarks  that  he  expects  to  see  San 
Roque  this  time. 

We  are  now  in  the  approximate  position  of  the  American 
iron  ship  "  May  Flint"  (late  steamer  "  Persian  Monarch"), 
one  of  the  largest  sailing  vessels  under  our  flag,  when  she 
was  hove  down  and  dismasted  about  a  year  ago  in  a  cy- 

37 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

clone.  Captain  Nickels  subsequently  accomplished  so  fine 
a  piece  of  seamanship  that  a  short  account  of  the  whole 
affair  might  not  prove  uninteresting.  The  vessel  left  Phila- 
delphia bound  to  Hiogo  with  a  cargo  of  case-oil  on  August 
21,  and  on  September  8,  about  four  hundred  miles  from 
the  Azores,  she  encountered  a  gale  which  gradually  in- 
creased to  a  tremendous  hurricane,  in  the  centre  of  which 
she  became  involved  ;  and  shortly  afterward  she  was  hove 
on  her  beam  ends  and  the  fore  and  maintop-masts  and 
mizzentop-gallant-masts,  together  with  all  standing  gear 
above  the  lower  mast-heads  went  by  the  board.  Her  con- 
dition was  really  terrible,  as  all  hands  were  in  momentary 
expectation  of  seeing  some  of  the  broken  spars  alongside 
stave  in  the  hull,  as  the  wreckage  was  battering  and  thump- 
ing furiously  against  the  ship.  A  steamer  was  sighted 
later  on, — the  "  Craftsman," — which  stood  by  the  **  Flint" 
till  the  weather  moderated,  and  then  offered  to  tow  her  to 
New  York.  This  offer  Captain  Nickels  refused,  though  at 
their  request  he  transshipped  his  two  passengers,  one  a 
Boston  and  the  other  a  Chicago  man,  and  they  returned  to 
New  York  on  the  "  Craftsman."  It  is  reasonable  to  pre- 
sume that  neither  of  these  individuals  will  ever  step  over 
the  side  of  another  sailing  ship. 

When  the  cyclone  had  passed  and  the  ship  had  come  up 
on  an  even  keel.  Captain  Nickels  surveyed  the  wreck  aloft 
and  then  decided  on  his  course,  which  was  as  follows  :  a 
part  of  the  spars  and  rigging  having  been  saved,  a  foretop- 
mast  was  made  from  a  spare  spar,  and  the  stump  of  an 
old  mizzentop-gallant-mast  was  used  for  a  foretop-gallant- 
mast.  The  ship  carried  a  spare  fore-yard,  the  lower  fore- 
top-sail-yard  was  intact,  and  the  upper  maintop-sail-yard 
was  utilized  for  an  upper  fore  ;  the  foretop-gallant-  and 
royal-yards  were  saved,  thus  square-rigging  the  vessel  for- 
ward.     A  portion  of   the  main-yard,  which  was  broken, 

38 


BY   WAY    OF   CAPE   HORN 

was  used  for  a  maintop-mast,  leaving  the  mainmast  fore- 
and-aft  rigged.  The  mizzentop-gallant-mast,  which  was 
apparently  hopelessly  damaged,  was  fished  and  repaired 
together  with  all  the  yards  below  it,  so  that  the  vessel  was 
square-rigged  forward  and  aft,  but  schooner-rigged  amid- 
ships, presenting  a  most  extraordinary  appearance.  She 
looked  at  a  distance  somewhat  like  two  hermaphrodite 
brigs,  yet  after  the  repairs  had  been  made,  which  occupied 
fifteen  days,  she  was  successfully  navigated  into  New  York 
harbor,  a  distance  of  two  thousand  two  hundred  miles,  and 
on  one  day  logged  the  extremely  good  run  of  two  hundred 
and  forty  knots.  For  this  fine  performance  the  underwriters 
presented  the  gallant  captain  with  a  superb  gold  watch, 
and  well  he  deserved  it,  for  it  was  an  act  of  seamanship  so 
bold  and  unusual  as  to  command  the  applause  of  Captain 
Nickels' s  fellow  ship-masters,  a  class  of  men  who,  as  a  rule, 
are  extremely  reserved  in  their  expressions  of  approbation. 
Latitude,  31°  34'  north  ;  longitude,  42°  10'  west. 

May  21 

Last  night  was  windy,  with  a  severe  squall  at  one  o'  clock 
in  the  morning,  with  much  rain,  and  we  haven't  seen  the 
sky-sails  since  six  last  evening. 

As  I  was  leaning  against  the  rail  yesterday  afternoon, 
looking  at  the  mizzen-stay  being  set  up  by  the  starboard 
watch,  the  captain  came  up  and  said,  "I've  found  out 
we've  got  another  cap'n  aboard,  a  fellow  called  Murphy,  I 
believe.  I'm  going  to  send  him  aft  to  run  the  ship,  and  I'm 
going  forrad  to  sleep  in  the  fo'c'sle."  The  skipper  has  a 
curious  way  of  saying  such  things,  and  we  never  know 
whether  to  smile  or  not.  Presently,  though,  he  cast  joking 
aside  and  began  to  blackguard  Murphy  in  the  language  of 
the  deep  sea,  saying  that  when  he  (the  captain)  had  gone 
forward  to  see  that  the  regular  weekly  washing  out  of  the 

39 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

forecastle  was  properly  done,  some  of  the  men  did  not 
seem  to  relish  the  process,  and  he  heard  Murphy  grumble. 
Now,  when  a  foremast  hand  has  been  somewhat  disagreeable 
for  a  few  days,  and  at  length  finds  audible  fault  with  various 
things,  it  is  almost  certain  that  some  one  hour  in  the  suc- 
ceeding twenty-four  will  be  unpleasant  for  him.  Thus  with 
Murphy.  After  supper  we  were  sitting  on  the  deck-house, 
when  Captain  Scruggs  came  up  and  said  that  at  eight  bells 
the  decision  would  be  reached,  whether  or  not  there  were 
two  captains  aboard.  He  was  very  nervous  and  couldn'  t 
sit  still ;  which  reminds  me  that  I  have  never  yet  seen  a 
long- voyage  skipper  who  wasn'  t  nervous  at  even  the  mildest 
encounter  with  the  men. 

The  evening  shades  fell  early,  by  reason  of  heavy  clouds, 
and  at  eight  o'  clock  it  was  dark.  Word  was  passed  for- 
ward that  both  watches  were  to  muster  aft,  and  when  eight 
bells  had  been  struck,  the  eighteen  seamen  (including  the 
bosuns)  came  trooping  down  from  forward  and  grouped 
themselves  at  the  after  hatch.  Here  I  sent  my  wife  below, 
fearing  scenes  which  she  ought  not  to  witness  ;  while  the 
captain  at  the  same  moment  passed  out  of  the  cabin  to  the 
main  deck  and  faced  the  men. 

It  was  an  impressive,  rugged  scene.  The  wind  was 
puffy  and  uncertain  and  the  decks  were  wet ;  and  though  it 
was  too  dark  to  see  the  men's  expressions,  their  forms  stood 
out  clearly  enough  as  they  rolled  from  side  to  side  with  the 
heave  of  the  ship,  two  broad  beams  of  light  shooting  out 
from  the  cabin  doors  and  illuminating  the  showers  of  spray 
that  flew  incessantly  over  the  weather  side  ;  the  great  main- 
sail bridging  over  the  scene  with  its  huge  curve,  till  lost  in 
the  gloom  of  the  upper  sails. 

As  soon  as  the  captain  appeared,  he  began  to  pace 
athwartships  between  the  hatch  and  the  poop,  keeping  it  up 
for  several  minutes  in  a  dead  silence.     How  well  he  knows 

40 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

how  to  handle  a  crew  !  Nothing  is  more  effective  than  such 
a  silence,  for  it  shows  the  men  that  the  skipper  is  about  to 
act  with  deliberation.  Suddenly  he  unexpectedly  rapped 
out,  '  *  Go  forrad,  the  port  watch' ' ;  and  the  nine  men  quickly 
disappeared,  wondrous  glad  to  escape,  no  doubt.  Now 
what  the  captain  said  to  the  rest  I  could  not  hear,  for  the 
wind  cut  his  words  off  short  ;  but  he  walked  up  among  the 
men,  shouldering  his  way  roughly  through  them,  until  he 
stood  directly  in  front  of  Murphy,  who,  though  putting  on 
some  "side,"  shrunk  back  from  the  glare  that  I  knew  shot 
from  the  old  man's  eye.  He  spoke  to  him  in  the  fierce, 
intense  tones  of  a  thoroughly  angry  man  ;  and,  after  a  con- 
siderable harangue,  he  seized  Murphy  by  his  nasal  ex- 
tremity, the  size  of  which  afforded  him  excellent  holding 
ground,  and  led  the  recalcitrant  youth  around  in  a  small 
circle,  every  few  seconds  tweaking  and  twisting  his  nose, 
till  I  was  surprised  that  it  did  not  part  company  with  the 
rest  of  his  face.  This  done,  he  sent  the  men  forward, 
entered  the  cabin,  sat  down,  and  joined  us  in  a  game  of 
casino. 

At  first  this  seemed  a  very  puerile  manner  of  administer- 
ing punishment,  but  it  is  considered  wonderfully  effective, 
and,  in  truth,  it  is  humiliating  to  be  hauled  about  by  the 
nose  in  the  presence  of  one's  companions.  I  had  expected 
that  Murphy  would  have  been  floored  with  a  belaying-pin, 
that  handy  instrument  of  correction  which  most  American 
masters  and  mates  know  so  well  how  to  wield.  But  Cap- 
tain Scruggs  seems  to  be  restraining  himself,  owing  in  part, 
no  doubt,  to  our  presence  on  board,  though  chiefly  to  the 
space  which  the  newspapers  have  been  devoting  lately  to 
aggravated  cases  of  cruelty  at  sea.  Indeed,  the  skipper 
himself  said  the  other  day,  "What's  a  ship-master  to  do 
nowadays,  when  the  press  jumps  on  him  when  he  gets 
ashore?"      He  forgets  that  if   the  said   ship-master   con« 

41 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

ducted  himself  at  sea  like  the  captain  of  a  ship  ought  to, 
the  press  would  have  no  cause  for  writing  him  up. 

The  course  has  been  poor,  with  the  wind  at  times  to  the 
southward  of  east,  and,  horrible  to  relate,  we  made  a  de- 
gree of  westing  in  the  twenty-four  hours.  If  we  don't 
have  a  better  chance  than  this,  we'll  be  jammed  on  San 
Roque  in  earnest.  Latitude  28°  30'  north  ;  longitude, 
43°  west. 

May  22 

It  is  necessary  here  to  make  an  announcement  of  a  very 
painful  nature,  an  announcement  of  a  fact  so  lamentable 
and  unfortunate  that  for  a  long  while  we  tried  to  believe 
that  it  could  not  be.  Captain  Scruggs  has  several  times  in 
the  last  week  been  very  much  under  the  influence  of  strong 
liquor  !  More  than  once  we  have  noticed  that  he  exhibited 
a  strange  uncertainty  in  his  gait,,  and  for  two  days  he  has 
been  unusually  aggressive  and  sometimes  silly  in  his  argu- 
ments. Still,  neither  of  us  would  acknowledge  to  the  other 
that  which  we  knew  in  our  hearts  was  true,  until  last  even- 
ing at  supper  his  conduct  compelled  us  to  admit  the  shock- 
ing fact  that  the  master  of  the  ship  in  which  we  have  but 
just  commenced  one  of  the  longest  aud  stormiest  of  voyages 
was  plainly  drunk.  He  had  to  steady  himself  against  the 
mizzen-mast  at  the  end  of  the  dining-room  before  he  could 
sit  down,  and  during  the  meal  he  was  for  a  time  a  drooling 
idiot.  His  chief  amusement  seemed  to  lie  in  spilling  small 
quantities  of  maple  syrup  over  the  table-cloth,  in  which  he 
then  dabbled  with  his  fingers,  like  a  boy  with  his  feet  in 
a  puddle.  The  syrup  appeared  to  revive  memories  of  his 
childhood,  for  he  told  us  stories  of  his  passion  for  this  fluid 
when  a  youth.  Said  he  :  "  Why,  I  used  to  go  out  in  the 
woods,  tap  a  maple-tree,  and  let  two  gallons  of  surrup  run 
into  me."     No  one  said  a  word.     "  Two  gallons  !"  glaring 

42 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

fiercely  at  the  mate,  who,  of  course,  didn't  offer  any  objec- 
tion. Then  he  caught  sight  of  a  small  wash-tub,  and,  turn- 
ing on  the  mate  again,  cried  out  violently,  *' When  I  was 
a  boy,  I  used  to  could  drink  that  right  down  full  er  maple 
surrup.  This 'ere  hain't  surrup  ;  h'its  mucilage."  Here 
we  excused  ourselves  and  went  on  deck. 

Now,  what  is  all  this  going  to  lead  to  ?  Pleasant  thought, 
that  of  knocking  about  in  a  gale  of  wind  off  Cape  Horn 
with  a  groggy  skipper  in  charge  !  Indeed,  when  we  first 
discovered  his  bibulous  inclination,  my  wife  was  in  despair, 
and  the  only  consolation  we  have  is  to  be  found  in  the  hope 
that  the  case  of  whiskey  that  we  have  seen  is  the  only  one 
on  board.  We  can  account  now,  too,  for  the  innumerable 
times  that  the  captain  has  popped  into  his  little  room,  only 
to  emerge  in  a  few  seconds,  smelling  furiously  of  Florida- 
water.  Well,  we'  11  probably  have  fine,  light  weather  through 
the  northeast  Trades,  which  we  are  now  sure  that  we  have 
taken  ;  and  at  the  rate  at  which  the  grog  is  vanishing  at  pres- 
ent, it  will  be  gone  before  we  reach  the  squally  Doldrums, 
provided  that  the  skipper  has  but  one  case. 

In  a  copy  of  a  nautical  magazine  on  board,  I  saw  an 
account  of  a  singular  fact  that  occurred  a  short  while  ago. 
The  British  ship  "  Crompton"  was  homeward  bound  a  few 
months  since,  from  Calcutta  to  Dundee,  when  one  morning 
Captain  Lloyd  sighted  something  ahead  which  seemed  to 
be  either  a  capsized  vessel  or  the  back  of  a  whale.  As  the 
vessel  approached,  however,  the  captain  saw  that  it  was 
neither,  but  a  rock,  about  sixty  feet  long,  eight  feet  high, 
and  the  same  broad.  He  could  scarcely  believe  his  senses, 
for  the  position  of  the  rock  was  47°  north  and  37°  20'  west  ! 
Imagine  a  rock's  existing  in  the  most  crowded  ocean  on  the 
globe,  almost  every  square  mile  of  which  it  was  reasonable 
that  at  least  one  vessel  had  traversed,  which  had  never 
been  seen   or  reported  before  !     For  some  time  Captain 

43 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

Lloyd  could  not  believe  that  it  really  was  a  rock,  and  so  to 
verify  it  he  sailed  as  close  to  it  as  possible  ;  and  as  the 
morning  was  a  perfectly  clear  one,  and  the  hour  twenty 
minutes  to  eight,  he  was  at  last  compelled  to  believe  the 
evidence  of  his  eyes,  that  here  was  a  large  rock,  extremely 
dangerous  to  navigation,  lying  five  hundred  miles  north- 
northwest  of  the  Azores  ! 

Speaking  of  those  balmy  isles  reminds  one  of  that  ardent, 
skilful  yachtsman,  the  Prince  of  Monaco.  About  two  years 
ago,  while  prosecuting  some  deep-sea  soundings  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  Azores  on  his  steam  yacht,  he  found  a  bank 
or  ledge  which  rose  from  a  depth  of  about  two  thousand 
fathoms  to  one  of  something  like  fifty  fathoms,  which,  like 
the  aforementioned  rock,  had  never  been  charted  or  re- 
ported. So  extremely  zealous  is  the  prince  in  his  pursuit 
of  knowledge  concerning  the  floor  of  the  Atlantic,  that  he 
shortly  afterward  gave  an  order  for  a  twelve-hundred-ton 
steam  yacht  (he  can  well  afford  it  !)  fitted  with  the  most 
recent  inventions  in  connection  with  deep-sea  sounding 
apparatus.  I  wonder  whether  he  will  use  the  machine  for 
this  purpose  invented  by  Captain  Sigsbee,  who  commanded 
the  battleship  '  *  Maine' '  at  the  time  of  her  destruction.  It 
is  said  that  Lord  Kelvin,  who,  when  Sir  William  Thomp- 
son, invented  the  famous  sounding  machine  which  bears  his 
name,  has  stated  that  Captain  Sigsbee  has  adopted  an  idea 
in  his  apparatus  which  he  (Lord  Kelvin)  had  vainly  sought 
for  years  to  utilize  in  his  mechanism.  If  this  be  true.  Cap- 
tain Sigsbee  has  reason  to  be  a  very  proud  man,  for  Lord 
Kelvin  is,  perhaps,  the  most  learned  individual  now  living 
on  hydro-dynamics  and  kindred  sciences. 

Last  voyage  it  took  us  exactly  a  month  in  which  to  reach 
this  spot  where  we  are  now,  which  illustrates  how  uncer- 
tain and  erratic  long  voyages  are.  All  fear  of  being 
"stuck"   in   this   region,   as  we  were   before,   has   disap- 

44 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

peared,  for  the  Trades  have  come  now  without  question  ; 
and  while  they  are  quite  fresh  enough  to  suit  us,  we  would 
like  to  see  the  wind  back  two  points  to  the  northward. 
Latitude,  26°  18'  north  ;  longitude,  41°  9'  west. 

May  23 

Last  night  was  a  windy  one,  and  in  the  middle  watch  we 
split  the  mizzen-royal  in  a  severe  squall  ;  so  we  took  in  the 
fore-  and  main-royals,  the  sea  being  choppy  and  the  vessel 
plunging  a  good  deal.  It  is  customary  to  cut  the  light 
sails  in  such  a  manner  that  a  fore-sky-sail  will  answer  for  a 
mizzen-royal ;  therefore,  toward  the  end  of  the  morning 
watch  the  fore-sky-sail  was  unbent  and  stretched  on  the 
mizzen-royal-yard,  the  royals  having  been  set  again  an 
hour  or  so  previously.  It  didn't  fit  particularly  well,  but 
it  will  do  until  to-morrow,  when  the  royal  will  be  repaired, 
as  such  work  is  not  done  on  Sunday  unless  in  case  of 
urgent  need.  Sometimes  there  is  necessity  for  hard  work 
on  the  Sabbath  aboard  ship,  such  an  instance  having  oc- 
curred on  the  ' '  Hosea  Higgins' '  on  her  last  homeward 
voyage  from  San  Francisco.  It  might  be  first  observed 
that,  though  it  is  the  custom  to  give  the  men  a  holiday  on 
Sunday,  still  if  the  captain  orders  anything  done,  he  must 
be  obeyed  without  murmur.  On  this  particular  occasion, 
Captain  Scruggs  saw  fit  to  order  one  of  the  bosuns  to  do 
some  work  aloft,  which  he  refused.  The  skipper  went 
down  on  the  main  deck  then  and  spoke  to  the  man,  a  lusty 
young  German,  asking  him  why  he  refused  to  turn  to. 

''  Because  it's  Soonday,  zur,"  he  replied. 

"  Sunday?  Never  heard  of  it.  What  is  Sunday?  Who 
told  you  anything  about  it?"  quizzed  the  old  man. 

"  I  say,  a  man's  not  supposed  to  turn  to  on  Soonday, 
zur,"  repeated  the  bosun. 

'*  Oh,  he's  not,"  quoth  the  skipper  ;  "  then  we  always 

45 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

put  him  where  he'll  have  plenty  of  leisure.     Mr.  Goggins, 
the  irons." 

(This  same  mate  came  around  from  California  in  the 
''Higgins.") 

The  irons  were  brought,  and  the  man,  quietly  enough, 
but  with  angry  eye  and  sneering  lip,  put  his  hands  behind 
him  ;  the  irons  wxre  locked  on,  and  he  was  led  down  into 
the  lazarette,  where  he  sat  calmly  down,  and  the  key  was 
turned.  Six  hours  afterward  the  mate  went  to  him  with 
some  food  and  found  that  the  man  had  in  some  way  con- 
trived to  shift  his  hands  around  in  front  and  was  disposed 
to  be  ugly.  Therefore  he  was  taken  up  into  the  after  part 
of  the  wheel-house  (these  structures  on  American  ships  are 
divided  into  equal  portions,  one  containing  the  wheel  and 
binnacle,  the  other  the  rudder-head,  tiller,  fiag-locker, 
etc.),  where  a  staple  was  driven  into  a  carling,  to  which 
the  man's  hands,  still  ironed,  w^ere  secured,  leaving  him  so 
that  he  could  not  sit  down,  his  wrists  being  about  six 
inches  above  his  head.  Now,  this  posture  for  twelve  hours 
is  enough  to  break  the  heart  of  a  wild  beast ;  yet  this  bosun 
stood  there  without  a  word  for  thirty  hours,  refusing  food 
or  drink  during  that  time  !  At  the  end  of  every  six  hours 
or  so  the  mate  went  to  him  and  asked  if  he  had  had 
enough,  to  which  the  Teuton  would  answer  * '  Naw. ' '  His 
endurance  yielded  at  the  thirtieth  hour  and  he  implored  to 
be  released,  which  he  was  six  hours  later,  and  for  the  rest 
of  the  passage  he  was  a  model  sailor. 

At  this  time  we  are  on  or  near  a  favorite  whaling  ground, 
great  numbers  of  these  leviathans  being  taken  in  this 
vicinity  every  year  by  schooners.  In  the  old  days  a  first- 
class  whaling  bark  cost  about  thirty-five  thousand  dollars, 
and  was  manned  by  perhaps  thirty  Western  Islanders,  or 
natives  of  the  Azores.  They  were  owned  by  companies 
who  supplied  the  vessels  with  provisions,  clothes,  and  out- 

46 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

fits,  and  also  advanced  certain  sums  of  money  to  captain 
and  crew  (which  did  not  go  to  crimps  as  it  does  now) 
while  they  were  away  on  a  three  years'  cruise.  No  wages 
were  ever  paid  to  any  one,  but  all  hands  received  a  per- 
centage when  the  ship  returned,  the  bulk,  which  remained, 
being  divided  among  the  stockholders.  The  most  lucra- 
tive whaling  voyage  of  which  there  is  any  record  was  made 
by  the  ''Onward"  of  New  Bedford,  which,  after  a  forty- 
one  months'  voyage,  stocked  two  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  thousand  dollars,  the  captain's  share  alone  amounting 
to  thirty-three  thousand.  More  startling  even  than  that  is 
the  fact  that  during  the  fifty-two  years  which  formed  the 
golden  era  of  Massachusetts' s  whaling  industry  the  total 
value  of  whale  products  landed  in  New  Bedford  alone 
amounted  to  one  hundred  and  forty-five  million  dollars  ! 

We  had  quite  an  agreeable  shock  this  morning  when  the 
carpenter  walked  aft  to  breakfast  with  a  clean,  new,  checked 
shirt  on,  it  being  Sunday.  He  had  combed  the  sawdust 
and  other  little  inconveniences  out  of  his  unctuous  locks, 
and  he  made  quite  a  respectable  appearance  as  he  wabbled 
into  the  cabin. 

Fresh  Trades  blew  all  day,  and  we  have  made  good  a 
course  about  south-southeast.  Latitude,  23°  28'  north  ; 
longitude,  40°  15'  west. 

May  24 

This  day  broke  with  a  strong  breeze  and  a  cloudy  sky  ; 
but,  as  usual,  the  vapor  cleared  away  at  ten  o'clock  and  a 
superb  afternoon  followed. 

Nearly  all  wooden  ships  have  to  be  pumped  out  twice 
every  day,  once  in  the  morning  watch  and  again  at  six  in 
the  evening.  It  is  almost  impossible  to  build  a  tight 
wooden  vessel  of  any  size,  and  the  rougher  the  sea  the 
more  water  she  will   make,  on  account  of  laboring.     Of 

47 


BY   WAY  OF   CAPE   HORN 

course,  t"he  leakage  varies  greatly,  but  I  suppose  that  our 
own  is  an  average  one,  about  one  thousand  strokes  of  the 
pumps  being  necessary  to  free  the  ship  at  each  session  of 
thirty  minutes,  and  the  aperture  through  which  the  water 
escapes  is  about  as  large  as  a  fire-hose. 

Last  evening,  sadly  needing  exercise,  I  descended  to  the 
main-deck  after  supper  and  announced  to  Jimmie  Rumps, 
the  young  starboard  watch  bosun,  that  it  was  my  intention 
to  assist  in  pum.ping  ship,  if  the  men  had  no  objection  ;  at 
which  they  smiled,  while  Rumps  assured  me  that  any  such 
assistance  would  be  eagerly  welcomed.  A  ship's  pumps  are 
worked  by  means  of  handle-bars  attached  to  large,  heavy 
fly-wheels,  six  feet  in  diameter  ;  and  the  motion  of  pump- 
ing is  similar  to  the  old-fashioned  way  of  lifting  rock  out 
of  an  excavation  by  man-power  derricks.  I  therefore 
grasped  the  handle-bar  with  the  reckless  assurance  of  a 
man  who  knows  not  what  he  does,  having  opposite  to  me 
a  raw-boned,  powerful  Englishman,  Coleman.  ''Shake 
her  up' '  came  from  the  second  mate  in  another  moment ; 
and,  urged  by  the  strong  arms  of  the  men,  the  great  wheels 
began  to  slowly  revolve.  As  moments  passed,  though 
with  no  indication  of  acceleration  in  the  speed,  I  began  to 
fear  that  after  all  I  was  not  to  find  much  exercise  in  this 
way,  when  all  at  once  there  was  a  distinct  increase  in  the 
movement,  and  my  breath  came  shorter  and  quicker. 
Faster  and  yet  faster  flew  the  iron  handles  till  we  must 
have  been  doing  sixty  revolutions  to  the  minute.  I  was 
nearly  pitched  off  my  feet  at  every  turn,  and  my  head  com- 
menced to  swim.  Usually,  at  the  end  of  fifteen  minutes,  a 
halt  is  called  for  a  breathing-spell  ;  but  now  we  went  on 
and  on  with  no  signs  of  cessation,  and  the  men  wrought 
with  wooden  faces.  Then  instantly  I  saw  that  they  were 
having  their  joke,  initiating  me,  as  it  were,  and  that  they 
had  no  intention  of  resting  till  the  trick  was  over.     The 

48 


BY   WAY  OF   CAPE   HORN 

pace  was  quite  frightful ;  but  I  decided  to  faint  on  the  deck 
rather  than  yield.  Round  went  the  relentless,  cruel  han- 
dles, carrying  me  with  them,  like  a  nautical  Don  Quixote 
on  the  windmill,  while  Jimmie  Rumps,  that  young  limb  of 
Satan,  made  facetious  observations,  at  which  the  men 
smiled  compassionately. 

*'  Fine  exercise  this,  mister"  ;  and,  "  How'd  you  like  to 
do  this  when  we're  turnin'  the  Corner  with  two  feet  of 
water  on  deck  ?' ' 

A  ghastly  smile  was  the  only  answer  that  I  could  sum- 
mon, and  in  five  minutes  more  I  should  certainly  have  suc- 
cumbed to  dizziness  and  want  of  breath,  when  I  heard  the 
voice  of  the  mate,  sounding  strange  and  distant,  "  That'll 
do  the  pumps. "  I  let  go  the  handle,  grinned  like  a  skull 
to  show  how  happy  I  was,  summoned  all  my  strength, 
tottered  to  the  poop  ladder,  crawled  up,  fell  into  a  deck- 
chair  and  for  five  minutes  endured  the  bitter  agonies  of  a 
man  thoroughly  "pumped."  This  was  a  good  deal  better 
than  giving  in,  however,  and  it  is  my  intention  to  hammer 
away  at  it  for  the  rest  of  the  voyage. 

To-day  the  sun  was  overhead  at  noon,  the  declination 
and  latitude  being  the  same.  We  made  a  somewhat  better 
course  during  the  past  twenty-four  hours,  about  south  30° 
east,  and  a  heavy  bank  in  the  northeast  presages  a  breeze 
from  that  quarter,  so  that  we  may  come  up  a  couple  of 
points  farther.  The  captain  continues  his  libations  with  no 
indication  of  a  change  ;  evil  as  the  thing  is,  though,  there 
is  some  compensation  in  it  for  us,  as  he  is  usually  asleep  in 
his  room  all  day.  An  ill  wind,  and  so  on.  Latitude  20° 
3'  north  ;  longitude,  38°  23'  west. 

May  25 

Last  night  we  celebrated  the  Queen's  birthday  for  Mr. 
Goggins'   sake  ;  and  the  old  man  had  a  fete  all  by  himself 
4  49 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

with  a  bottle  of  Monongahela.  The  first  part  of  the  pro- 
ceedings consisted  in  burning  balls  of  tar-soaked  oakum 
mounted  on  sticks  secured  to  the  weather  rail.  Each  ball 
was  of  the  size  of  man's  head  and  burned  with  a  brilliant 
flame  that  lit  up  the  whole  ship  with  a  red  glare,  sending 
now  and  then  a  stream  of  sparks  across  the  deck,  quite 
alarming  till  we  remembered  that  everything  in  the  waist 
was  drenched  with  spray. 

The  second  portion  of  the  festivities  was  more  elaborate 
and  was  begun  by  carrying  a  barrel  of  oiled  shavings  up  on 
the  poop.  The  open  end  of  the  barrel  was  headed  up  and 
a  hole  a  foot  square  was  then  cut  in  the  side.  Of  course, 
the  captain  insisted  on  performing  this  piece  of  carpentry, 
and  he  entertained  himself  for  ten  minutes,  jabbing  away  at 
the  hard  wood  with  a  little  key-hole  saw  till  he  was  in  quite 
a  frenzy. 

*'Now  gimme  a  match  and  I'll  show  you  some  fire- 
works," said  he. 

*'Hi  don't  think  it'll  burn,  Cap'n  Scruggs:  the  hole 
ain't  big  enough,"  meekly  observed  the  mate. 

"  I  didn't  ask  you  whether  you  thought  'twould  burn  or 
not,"  responded  the  skipper,  who  had  snapped  about  an 
inch  off  the  end  of  his  little  saw.  '  *  I  asked  you  for  a 
match." 

Finally  the  contents  of  the  barrel  were  ignited,  and  the 
skipper,  seizing  the  chimes  at  one  end,  bade  the  mate  do 
the  same  at  the  other  ;  then  to  lift  it  horizontally,  swing  it 
to  and  fro,  and  when  he  said  ''  three,"  to  let  it  go  over  the 
stern.  But  the  mate  got  it  wrong  in  some  way,  and  let  go 
at  "  two,"  and  as  the  captain  hung  on,  there  was  a  good 
deal  of  excitement  for  a  few  seconds.  The  barrel  all  but 
hauled  him  overboard  after  breaking  off  two  or  three  finger 
nails,  banged  loudly  against  the  counter,  turned  over,  and 
dropped  into  the  water  hole-side  down. 

50 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE    HORN 

The  scene  which  followed  was  too  harrowing  for  repro- 
duction, but  it  was  interrupted  by  the  loud  voice  of  the 
lookout,  "  Light  right  ahead,  sir."  Instantly  all  was 
silent.  The  skipper  jumped  up  on  the  deck-house,  while 
the  mate  ran  for  the  top-gallant- forecastle,  whence  he  shouted 
back,  "All  right,  sir,  she's  keeping  away";  and  in  a  few 
minutes,  a  bark  of  about  seven  hundred  tons  under  top- 
sails passed  us  to  leeward,  by  the  wind,  bound  north. 

Mr.  Goggins  entertained  us  at  dinner  to-day  with  a  new 
version  of  an  old  sea-fight.  The  captain  did  not  come  to 
the  table  until  supper,  owing  to  his  celebrations,  which  he 
prolonged  far  into  the  night  ;  so,  after  the  soup  had  been 
cleared  away  at  dinner,  the  mate  began,  * '  Did  you  ever 
hear,  sir,  and  ma'am,  of  the  true  'istory  about  Sims 
(Semmes)  in  the  battle  of  the  '  Kearsarge'  and  '  Hala- 
bama' ?"    *'No,"saidI;   "  let  us  have  it." 

"'Twon't  take  long  to  tell,"  said  the  mate.  ''He 
warn' t  in  the  fight  at  all.  Where  was  he  ?  Aboard  o'  that 
English  yacht,  the  'Greyhound,'  or  whatever  she  was, 
a-lookin'  on  !  Yes,  sir  ;  I  was  in  Liverpool  then,  and  he 
come  in  and  went  on  board  the  '  Great  Western,'  and  her 
cap'n  spit  in  his  face,  and  him  without  the  courage  to 
reply." 

Mr.  Goggins  had  a  sousing  yesterday  which  diverted  all 
hands  for  some  time.  He  was  coming  down  from  forward 
on  the  weather  side,  with  that  peculiar  confidence  assumed 
by  captains  and  mates  when  the  spray  is  flying,  as  if  it 
were  impossible  for  a  drop  of  water  to  strike  them.  The 
mate  had  reached  the  main  hatch,  when  he  heard  the 
swash  of  an  unusually  heavy  sea,  and  casually  turned  his 
head  in  time  to  see  a  perfect  storm  of  spray  flying  down 
upon  him.  It  hit  him  fairly  between  the  shoulders. 
He  staggered,  fluttered  about  for  a  moment,  and  then 
flapped  heavily  and  helplessly  against  the  hatch-combing, 

51 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

where  he  sat  up  finally  in  a  foot  of  water,  drenched  to  the 
bone. 

Our  fine  breeze  holds,  but  we  are  still  hard  on  the 
wind  ;  course,  southeast  by  south,  true.  Latitude,  17° 
15'  north  ;  longitude,  36°  50'  west. 

May  26 

Last  night  was  a  squally  one  and  the  sky-sails  were 
furled  early  in  the  evening,  hands  being  stationed  at  the 
royal-halliards  as  well,  until  they,  too,  were  stowed  at  three 
in  the  morning. 

We  had  an  accident  yesterday  afternoon,  which,  though 
comparatively  trivial,  occasioned  some  lively  work.  My 
wife  and  I  were  playing  backgammon  at  the  forward  end 
of  the  deck-house  in  the  first  dog  watch,  and  everything 
was  running  very  smoothly,  when,  with  a  snap  and  a  rattle  of 
chain  links,  the  lee  maintop-gallant-sheet  was  carried  away. 
In  a  second  there  was  an  uproar.  Two  men  jumped  with 
great  alacrity  into  the  weather  rigging  and  in  a  few  minutes 
were  astride  of  the  lee  upper  maintop-sail-yard-arm,  work- 
ing like  demons,  with  the  long  length  of  chain  sheet 
waving  and  slashing  among  the  braces  as  the  ship  rolled  in 
the  beam  seas.  Louis,  the  Frenchman,  swung  himself  into 
the  rigging  immediately  afterward,  stationing  himself  on 
the  royal-yard-arm,  followed  by  Mr.  Rarx  and  three  other 
men. 

It  wasn't  long  before  the  work  of  repair  was  progressing 
satisfactorily,  when  the  skipper  appeared  at  the  cabin  door, 
and,  without  preliminary,  commenced  to  shake  things  up  a 
little.  He  shook  with  such  success  that  in  three  or  four 
minutes  Jimmie  Rumps  began  to  simply  hop  into  the  air 
at  intervals,  the  men  were  reduced  to  idiots,  while  Mr.  Gog- 
gins  charged  about,  gulping  with  excitement  ;  for  the  cap- 
tain would  sandwich  in  such  observations  as,  '  *  I  wonder 

52 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

whether  I  shipped  you  for  a  mate  or  a  farmer' ' ;  and  re- 
questing him,  in  soft  but  deadly  tones,  to  be  "  good  enough 
to  secure  that  sheet  so  it'll  hold  till  to-morrow,  anyway." 
After  snarling  everything  up  into  a  hundred  grannies.  Cap- 
tain Scruggs  vanished,  and  the  work  proceeded  quietly. 
The  only  man  who  kept  his  head  was  the  second  mate. 
This  French  seaman,  Louis  Jacquin,  is  an  ideal  sailor.  He 
is  built  like  an  ox,  short  and  very  broad,  with  a  bull  neck 
thrust  well  down  between  massive  shoulders,  a  back  all 
corrugated  with  muscle,  and,  what  is  very  remarkable  in  a 
sailor,  large,  strong  legs.  He  is  as  swarthy  as  a  Spaniard, 
with  blue-black  hair  and  short  moustache,  and  a  wide, 
powerful  jaw,  with  a  pleasant  scowl,  if  such  can  exist,  on 
his  lean,  determined  face.  He  is  a  man  to  lean  on  in  an 
accident. 

We  were  glad  to  hear  that  when  repairs  had  been  made, 
the  men  w^ere  going  to  mast-head  the  top-gallant-  and  royal- 
yards  to  the  stimulus  of  chanties  ;  and  sure  enough,  when 
the  top-gallant-halliards  were  manned,  the  invigorating 
strains  of  "  A  Long  Time  Ago"  broke  out  in  a  hoarse  but 
agreeable  barytone.  A  sailor's  chorus  of  this  sort  is  a  very 
inspiring  thing.  The  whole  of  the  crew,  eighteen  brawny 
fellows,  were  stretched  in  line,  clear  across  the  deck,  with 
David  MacFoy,  the  lusty-voiced  Scot,  at  the  end,  to  sing 
the  verses  ;  and  at  the  conclusion  of  each  line  a  roar  would 
go  ringing  over  the  water  that  must  have  been  heard  be- 
hind the  horizon,  the  halliards  coming  in  a  full  yard  at 
each  swing.  The  main-royal  went  aloft  to  the  tune  of  '  *  A 
Poor  Old  Man,"  and  the  boys  seem  to  find  so  much  pleas- 
ure in  their  chanties  and  their  faces  so  shine  with  merri- 
ment that  even  the  sight  of  them  is  enough  to  put  a  man  in 
a  good  humor. 

Over  against  this  pleasant  diversion  looms  up  gloomily 
to-day's  evening  repast.     The  captain  had  again  imbibed 

53 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

enough  to  make  him  quarrelsome,  and  during  the  half- 
hour  that  we  were  at  table  the  mate  was  so  jerked  about  at 
the  end  of  the  skipper's  tongue  that,  objectionable  as  he  is, 
we  could  but  pity  him,  for  in  five  minutes  he  was  in  a  run- 
ning perspiration.  The  only  one  who  enjoyed  the  situation 
was  the  little  Malay  steward,  whose  face  shone  with  delight 
as  he  moved  noiselessly  about  the  table  with  his  gentle 
"  scuse"  (excuse),  which  he  utters  whenever  he  places  a 
plate  before  us.  It  might  be  stated  that  the  mate  and  the 
steward  of  a  ship  are  at  perpetual  war  ;  for  the  former  always 
has  charge  of  the  beef,  pork,  and  flour,  which  he  invariably 
grudges  to  the  steward. 

The  skipper  has  surprised  us  by  handing  me  his  sextant 
now  and  then,  at  about  a  quarter  to  noon,  with  the  injunc- 
tion, ' '  Just  look  out  for  her  to-day, ' '  and  has  then  disap- 
peared below,  to  lie  concealed  often  for  several  hours.  We 
made  the  discovery  to-day  that  he  does  this  to  avoid  making 
himself  ridiculous  when  taking  the  sun  ;  for  naturally  a 
man  requires  all  his  faculties  to  know  exactly  when  the 
sun  is  at  meridian.  Latitude,  14°  34'  north  ;  longitude, 
35°  12'  west. 

May  27 

Our  good  luck  still  follows  us,  for  the  Trades  are  stronger 
than  ever.  We  made  two  hundred  and  twenty-two  miles 
in  the  twenty-four  hours,  and  for  the  last  ten  days  our 
average  daily  run  has  been  one  hundred  and  ninety  miles. 
Not  very  many  vessels  can  show  such  a  record  in  the  north- 
east Trades  at  the  end  of  May,  and  while  two  hundred  and 
twenty-two  miles  would  be  merely  a  fair  run  with  a  free 
wind,  it  is  extremely  good  work  close-hauled  with  the 
leeches  of  the  sky-sails  lifting.  It  is  true  that  we  are  still 
four  degrees  too  far  west  for  this  latitude,  but  I  expect  that 
we'll  fetch  by  San  Roque  all  right  anyhow.      "  Where  will 

54 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE    HORN 

we  lose  the  Trades?"  is  in  every  one's  mouth  ;  forty  eight 
hours  will,  no  doubt,  see  the  end  of  them,  and  then  for  the 
Doldrums  and  rain.  It  is  very  hot  now,  but  the  atmos- 
phere is  quite  dry. 

The  captain  hasn't  boozed  any  all  day,  and  at  dinner  he 
was  in  normal  condition,  and  we  had  a  long  talk  about  the 
Scotch  clippers  of  forty  and  fifty  years  ago.  I  asked  him 
which  he  thought  was  the  fastest  sailing  ship  ever  launched  ; 
he  was  in  a  good  humor  and  answered  pleasantly,  '*  Well, 
that's  a  big  question.  Some  will  tell  you  that  the  *  Sover- 
eign of  the  Seas'  was  the  smartest  ;  others,  the  '  Andrew 
Jackson';  some,  the  'Flying  Cloud,'  which  went  out  to 
San  Francisco  in  eighty-five  days,  twenty-one  hours,  in 
1857.  These  were  all  American  ships,  as  I  suppose  you 
know  ;  but  the  fastest  ship,  I  think,  that  ever  left  the 
ways  was  the  'Lothair,'  of  Aberdeen,  and  I  believe  she 
was  faster  than  that  other  Scotchman,  the  'Thermopylae,' 
with  her  sixty  days  from  London  to  Melbourne.  I'll  tell 
you  what  happened  to  me  once  :  I  was  second  mate  of  a 
Newburyport  ship,  and  we  were  running  our  easting  down 
bound  out  to  Canton,  and  were  somewhere  near  Tristan 
d'Acunha,  when  we  sighted  a  vessel  astern.  It  was  blow- 
ing hard  from  the  nor' west,  and  the  next  time  I  looked, 
a  couple  of  hours  later,  there  was  the  ship  close  on  our 
quarter,  and  we  doing  twelve  knots.  '  Holy  jiggers,'  says 
I  to  the  mate,  '  there's  the  "  Flyin'  Dutchman."  '  *  Naw,' 
says  he,  *  its  the  ' '  Thermopylae. ' '  '  But  when  she  was 
abeam  a  little  later,  she  hoisted  her  name,  the  'Lothair,' 
and  its  been  my  opinion  ever  since  that  she  was  making 
mighty  close  to  seventeen  knots."  Then  I  asked  him 
what  he  thought  of  the  runs  of  some  of  our  old  tea-clippers 
of  from  four  hundred  to  four  hundred  and  forty  miles. 
"Don't  believe  it,"  was  all  he  said.  It  is  very  possible 
that  the  "  Lothair"  was  doing  better  than  sixteen  knots  at 

55 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

that  time,  and  one  of  the  most  prominent  young  naval 
architects  in  New  York  told  me  once  that  if  he  got  the 
order,  he  could  design  a  sailing  vessel  which,  under  favor- 
able conditions,  would  log  eighteen  knots. 

The  best  authentic  day's  run  which  I  know  of  was  made 
by  the  ship  in  which  we  sailed  from  New  York  to  Calcutta 
three  years  ago,  on  her  next  eastern  voyage  to  Anjer.  She 
was  running  her  easting  down  in  ballast  not  far  from  Am- 
sterdam Island,  and  from  noon  to  noon  on  one  occasion  she 
sailed  three  hundred  and  fifty-one  miles,  an  average  of  fifteen 
miles  an  hour  ;  I  mean  knots,  of  course.  Captain  Kingdon 
wrote  to  me  of  this  performance  from  Passaroean,  and  as- 
serted positively  that  it  was  done  by  some  of  the  best  obser- 
vations which  he  ever  got  in  the  Southern  Ocean,  and  that 
dead  reckoning  had  nothing  to  do  with  it.  Indeed,  that 
whole  passage  was  a  very  quick  one,  as  he  went  out  to 
Java  in  eighty-three  days  from  New  York,  and  broke  the 
record,  as  far  as  he  knew,  from  the  longitude  of  Cape 
Agulhas  to  Anjer,  having  covered  that  immense  distance 
in  twenty-one  days.  I  told  Captain  Scruggs  about  this, 
and  he  doubted  it,  until  he  learned  the  vessel's  name. 
"Oh,"  said  he,  "the  '  Mandalore'  ;  well,  maybe  she  did. 
I  saw  her  in  the  dry-dock  once,  and  there  never  was  such 
a  bottom  on  a  merchant  ship  ;  'twas  like  a  yacht's."  And, 
in  truth,  the  handsomest  vessel  which  I  ever  saw,  taken  as 
a  whole,  alow  and  aloft,  was  the  ' '  Mandalore' '  of  London, 
built  at  Stockton-on-Tees.  Seen,  as  we  often  saw  her 
afterwards,  moored  in  the  Hooghly  at  Calcutta,  among 
scores  of  the  finest  sailing  ships  in  the  world,  she  was  the 
star  of  the  fleet,  the  pride  and  very  life  of  her  captain. 
Poor,  dear  old  Kingdon  !  The  voyage  on  which  he  broke 
the  record  from  Good  Hope  to  the  Straits  of  Sunda  was  the 
last  he  ever  made.  The  * '  Mandalore' '  sailed  from  Banjoe- 
wangie,  bound  to  Boston  on  the  return  passage,  but  called 

56 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

a  few  weeks  later  at  Table  Bay  with  the  cai)tain  sick.  He 
pluckily  continued,  though  against  the  doctor's  orders, 
but  was  soon  afterwards  landed  at  St.  Helena  ill  with  can- 
cer, the  vessel  proceeding  in  charge  of  the  mate.  Captain 
Kingdon  then  went  by  steamer  to  London  via  Madeira, 
but  was  too  far  advanced  in  life  for  an  operation,  so  he  was 
ordered  to  Cairo,  in  the  hope  that  the  dry  atmosphere 
would  prolong  his  life.  But  his  constitution  was  not  able 
to  hold  out  much  longer,  and  two  months  after  his  arrival 
in  Egypt  died  Ray  Kingdon,  true  friend,  master  mariner, 
gentleman.  Latitude,  ii°  25'  north;  longitude,  33°  14' 
west. 

May  28 

The  wind  god  is  so  exceedingly  gracious  to  us  at  present 
that  I  cannot  but  think  that  he  is  saving  himself  to  swoop 
down  upon  us  in  fell  wrath  at  the  Horn.  Here  we  are 
bowling  merrily  along  within  five  hundred  miles  of  the 
equator,  doing  two  hundred  and  twenty  miles  in  the 
twenty-four  hours,  with  an  unlimited  prospect  of  wind 
ahead  ;  and  if  we  could  maintain  this  speed  of  nine  knots, 
we  would  cross  the  line  on  Sunday,  nineteen  days  from 
New  York.  There  are  sure  to  be  several  days  of  calms 
between  the  Trades,  though,  so  let  us  call  it  twenty-five 
days. 

During  the  whole  of  yesterday  the  captain  kept  as  sober 
as  a  lord  chancellor,  until  ten  o'  clock  last  night,  when  he 
took  a  drink,  which  set  him  off  again.  He  was  very  talk- 
ative when  we  left  the  deck  at  10.30,  and  the  last  thing 
that  I  remember  before  dropping  off  to  sleep  was,  "  You'll 

have  an  easier  time  of  it  if  you  break  a  few  of  their 

heads."     This  to  the  second  mate  after  he  had  had 

two  more  drinks.  We  knew  by  this  he  was  in  for  another 
round  of  festivities,  and  my  wife  said  this  morning  that  he 

57 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

was  charging  around  the  cabin  all  night,  snoring  and  groan- 
ing, falling  over  camp-chairs  and  door-sills.  I  have  known 
him  to  sink  into  a  stupor  on  the  cabin  sofa,  shoot  off  with 
a  whoop  in  a  lurch  of  the  ship,  wallow  on  the  floor  till  he 
struck  the  table-legs,  and  then  peacefully  continue  his 
slumbers  in  that  attitude.  He  doesn'  t  like  my  mixing  with 
the  men  so  much,  especially  when  pumping-ship  ;  he  is 
very  suspicious,  and  said  last  evening  that  he  shouldn't 
think  that  I'd  want  to  come  into  contact  with  such  men, 
forgetting  how  much  more  interesting  they  are  than  he  Is. 

If  sailors  can  be  induced  to  talk,  they  are  the  most  en- 
tertaining people  as  a  class  which  it  is  possible  to  find.  But 
it  is  very  hard  for  a  stranger  to  break  the  ice  with  them  ; 
and  if  the  stranger  should  be  a  gentleman  it  makes  it  twice 
as  hard,  for  they  will  always  be  extremely  reserved  in  his 
presence.  The  only  way  to  do  if  you  want  them  to  talk 
freely  among  themselves  (which  is  much  the  most  amusing) 
is  to  ask  them  questions  and  try  to  start  conversations  with 
them  at  every  opportunity  ;  generally,  at  the  end  of  a  week, 
they  will  see  that  you  really  like  to  converse  with  them,  the 
ice  will  gradually  melt,  and  from  that  time  forward,  if  you 
should  ever  feel  gloomy  and  sulky,  go  down  on  the  main- 
deck  and  stand  by  the  galley  during  the  second  dog-watch, 
and  listen  to  the  witty  passes  at  each  other  ;  in  fifteen  min- 
utes you  will  be  shaking  with  laughter,  for  theirs  is  real 
humor. 

At  the  pumps  this  evening  I  asked  the  Frenchman  sev- 
eral questions,  and  found  him  not  at  all  averse  to  talking, 
though  his  English  is  very  bad.  In  speaking  of  the  South- 
ern Ocean,  he  said  that  his  preference  lay  in  favor  of  the 
Horn  voyages,  saying  that  the  Good  Hope  seas  were  too 
short,  meaning  that  in  the  event  of  a  very  heavy  sea  it  is 
best  to  have  as  long  a  one  as  possible.  Probably  he  was 
thinking  of  the  Agulhas  Bank,    where  there  is   at  times 

58 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE    HORN 

possibly  the  most  dangerous  sea  in  the  world, — a  Bay  of 
Fundy  sea  multiplied  by  ten.  Across  this  bank,  in  a 
westerly  direction,  flows  a  swift  current  that  issues  from 
the  Mozambique  Channel,  called  now  the  Agulhas  Cur- 
rent, and  this,  meeting  the  westerly  gales,  produces  enor- 
mous, hollow  seas,  from  which  no  vessel,  however  buoyant, 
can  keep  free. 

What  a  splendid  fellow  this  Gaul  is  !  What  a  back  and 
legs  !  and  his  wrists  are  as  large  as  some  men's  ankles. 
He  has  a  really  engaging  smile,  too,  in  spite  of  his  bull-dog 
jaws  and  shaggy  brows.  Opposite  to  me  to-day  pumped 
Jimmie  Rumps.  Curiously  enough,  he  is  the  only  sailor 
whom  I  have  ever  heard  swear  in  joking  among  them- 
selves, however  they  may  talk  alone  in  the  forecastle,  and 
he  does  so  because  he  thinks  that  it  is  big.  "There's  a 
fellow  I'd  like  to  see  on  the  pumps,"  he  remarked,  quite 
an  ugly  look  coming  into  his  face  ;  and,  glancing  astern,  I 
saw  the  skipper  descending  the  weather-poop  ladder. 
Though  many  of  the  men  were  evidently  of  this  opinion, 
not  a  word  was  said  by  any  of  them  ;  for  might  I  not  repeat 
their  sentiments  aft  in  the  cabin  for  aught  that  they  knew  ? 
Therefore  the  observation  was  received  with  scowls  and  a 
dead  silence,  which  continued  until  Rumps  again  broke  in 
with,  '*  Last  voyage  I  was  in  the  American  ship  *  Ivanhoe,' 
and  I  was  nearly  starved  to  death  !"  "  Eh  ?' '  said  Louis, 
sharply.  **I  said  I  was  starved  in  the  '  Ivanhoe,'  "  re- 
peated Jimmie.  *'Oh,"  repHed  the  Frenchman;  ''I 
t' ought  you  meant  zees  sheep  ;  you'll  find  no  bettair  food 
anywhere  zan  here."  It  is  not  often  that  a  sailor  will 
acknowledge  this,  and  it  speaks  very  well  for  Louis. 

'*  Say,"  Jimmie  went  on,  "  I've  had  enough  of  the  sea, 
and  if  I  can,  I'm  going  home  to  Brooklyn  on  eight  wheels 
[i.e.,  railway  car]  ;  and  lemme  give  you  a  tip  on  San 
Francisco  ;    don't  you  miss  the  baths,  though   it'll  cost 

59 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

you  ten  cents,  and  a  quarter  for  a  fresh-water  swim.  And, 
say,  you  go  over  and  see  Oakland  ;  but  I  dunno  if  they've 
got  the  fare  down  to  five  yet. ' ' 

It  is  rather  surprising  that  Captain  Scruggs  doesn't  take 
an  interest  in  keeping  track  of  his  various  voyages,  plotted 
off  on  the  different  charts,  as  Captain  Kingdon  did.  The 
latter  used  some  which  had  sixteen  voyages  pricked  of!  on 
them  as  plain  as  ink  could  make  it,  forming  a  very  useful 
aid  for  future  w^ork,  as  he  could  select  the  average  from 
them  all,  for  each  voyage  as  it  progressed.  Our  skipper, 
however,  takes  no  such  pains,  and  so  far  hasn't  even  looked 
at  an  ordinary  chart.  To-day  my  wife  asked  him  to  show 
her  where  we  were,  at  noon,  and  he  hauled  out  from  under 
the  sofa  an  old,  ragged,  hydrographic  wind-chart,  and  after 
much  stertorous  breathing  he  managed  to  stab  the  position 
on  the  paper  with  the  dividers,  being  so  palsied  from  last 
night's  potations  that  he  had  to  steady  one  hand  with  the 
other  before  he  could  hit  the  chart  within  several  degrees 
of  where  we  were.  Latitude,  8°  24'  north  ;  longitude, 
31°  40'  west. 

May  29 

The  end  of  the  Trades  is  at  hand.  After  blowing  us 
through  nearly  twenty-five  degrees  of  latitude,  the  wind 
began  to  let  go  yesterday  afternoon  and  to  simultaneously 
haul  to  the  southward,  while  an  immense  pall  of  blue-black 
cloud  rose  slowly  out  of  the  southwest  and  solemnly  spread 
itself  over  the  clear  sky,  with  an  indication  of  thunder- 
squalls  in  the  ' '  white  heads' '  which  crowned  its  summit. 
Sure  enough,  in  the  middle  watch  there  was  some  mild 
thunder  and  lightning,  but  hardly  any  rain.  However,  a 
drizzle  started  later  on,  and  as  the  morning  was  a  soft  one 
and  the  atmosphere  almost  as  heavy  and  hot  as  the  steam 
from  a  kettle, — a  typical  tropical  morning, — the  men  were 

60 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

turned  to  scrubbing  the  paint-work  generally.  It  was  a 
very  long,  tedious  job,  for  every  particle  of  white  paint  had 
been  transformed  into  a  dirty  drab  in  the  New  York  docks. 
I  never  saw  such  a  change  in  a  vessel  as  the  men,  starting 
at  the  taf^rail,  worked  their  way  forward, — poop,  bulwarks, 
boats,  skids,  everything  putting  off  the  grimy  look,  and 
assuming  in  its  stead  a  glossy  whiteness  which  almost  hurt 
the  eye. 

It  is  strange  that  we  have  no  head-pump  here.  On  the 
*  *  Mandalore' '  there  was  a  very  powerful  one,  worked  by 
four  men,  and  a  line  of  two-inch  hose  that  reached  to  the 
after  hatch.  Our  method  of  washing  down  the  decks, 
though,  is  as  primitive  as  irrigation  in  India,  for  all  the 
water  must  be  hoisted  over  the  side  in  a  canvas  bucket 
and  dumped  into  a  cask,  whence  it  is  taken  out  as 
wanted. 

Speaking  of  the  "  Mandalore"  reminds  me  of  a  gruesome 
tale  which  MacFoy,  the  bosun,  told  me  last  evening.  So 
broad  is  his  brogue  that  it  was  rather  hard  to  understand 
him,  but  I  gathered  the  following  :  One  day,  about  nine 
years  ago,  there  started  from  Hamburg,  bound  to  San 
Francisco,  the  big  Liverpool  ship  "  Falls  of  Ayr."  The 
weather  growing  very  bad  in  the  Channel,  though,  she  up 
helm  and  ran  back  for  the  Downs,  to  anchor  till  the  gale 
should  break.  Shortly  before  she  sailed  the  * '  Mandalore' ' 
left  Hull,  also  bound  around  the  Horn  to  San  Diego,  on 
what  MacFoy  said  was  her  maiden  voyage.  After  getting 
well  out  into  the  Channel,  though,  and  finding  it  as  thick 
as  pea-soup,  she,  too,  ran  back  for  the  Downs,  and  before 
anybody  knew  what  was  happening,  with  a  fearful  crash  she 
hit  the  "Falls  of  Ayr"  head  on,  well  aft  on  the  quarter, 
dividing  her  nearly  in  two  and  smashing  her  boats,  which 
she  carried  aft,  Liverpool  fashion.  Very  curiously,  the 
**  Ayr"  had  no  after  companion-way,  entrance  to  the  main 

6i 


BY   WAY   OF    CAPE   HORN 

cabin  being  effected  solely  by  means  of  the  doors  on  the 
main-deck.  These,  being  of  iron,  crumpled  like  paper 
under  the  impact  of  collision,  and  then  jammed,  so  that  in 
the  hurry  and  confusion  they  baffled  all  attempts  at  open- 
ing, and  before  anything  could  be  done  the  ship  foundered, 
carrying  down  with  her  every  soul  aft, — captain,  two  mates, 
steward,  and  cook,  caught  like  flies  in  a  trap.  Nor  was 
this  all.  Three  boats  had  been  broken  into  match-wood, 
leaving  but  one  unharmed,  in  which  only  a  handful  of  the 
men  and  two  apprentices  escaped.  ' '  And  look  again,  sir, '  * 
continued  David,  "  she's  the  unluckiest  ship  that  ever  left 
a  yard.  Two  years  later  she  ran  down  a  large  Belfast  ship 
off  Pernambuco,  one  of  the  Star  Line, — I  think  'twas  the 
'  Star  of  Greece,' — though  both  ships  finally  made  Buenos 
Ayres  for  repairs. ' ' 

And  this  was  the  dear  old  "  Mandalore"  which  carried 
us  so  happily  across  thirteen  thousand  miles  of  ocean  only 
a  short  time  ago  !  We  had  absolutely  no  suspicion  of 
those  accidents  before,  and  I  asked  the  bosun  if  he  couldn't 
be  mistaken,  but  he  answered,  *'  I  never  forget  a  ship,  sir  ; 
this  one  I  mean  is  a  London  ship  built  at  Stockton  nine 
years  ago. ' '  That  settled  it  ;  but  how  strange  that  we 
should  never  have  heard  of  either  case  ! 

There  are  two  boxes  of  Sicilian  oranges  on  board  which 
are  holding  out  remarkably  well  ;  for  though  they  are  get- 
ting a  little  dry,  not  one  has  so  far  spoiled.  We  also 
have  good  cool  water  to  drink  yet  ;  for  in  spite  of  the 
great  heat  of  the  last  two  days,  it  has  not  penetrated  the 
big  galvanized  iron  tanks  below.  Indeed,  the  water  is  so 
much  cooler  than  the  air  that  a  blur  forms  on  the  outside 
of  a  tumbler.  But  this  will  soon  change,  and  we  will 
have  drinking-water  at  a  temperature  of  ninety  degrees  for 
a  fortnight.  Latitude,  6°  5'  north  ;  longitude,  30°  30' 
west. 

62 


BY   WAY   OF  CAPE   HORN 

May  30 

This  afternoon  was  very  hot  and  calm,  and  we  had  the 
first  hard  rain  of  the  voyage.  As  we  had  had  no  wind  at 
all  previous  to  this  shower,  the  courses  had  been  hauled 
up  to  prevent  chafing  ;  but  some  of  the  buntlines  and 
clew-lines  had  been  let  go  when  the  rain  came,  although  as 
there  was  not  much  wind  in  the  squall,  the  men  were 
allowed  to  drop  braces  and  everything  else  and  run  for 
tubs  and  buckets  to  be  filled  with  fresh  water,  so  that  for 
the  next  thirty  minutes  the  decks  presented  a  remarkable 
sight.  The  head-yards  were  braced  up,  while  the  main- 
and  after-yards  were  still  squared,  with  the  starboard  clew 
of  the  foresail,  both  clews  of  the  mainsail,  and  the  port- 
clew  of  the  cross-jack  hauled  up,  while  the  decks  were 
covered  with  a  wonderful  snarl  of  ropes.  However,  we 
filled  every  bucket,  tub,  and  cask  on  board,  while  the  men 
ran  for  their  soiled  clothes  and  spread  them  out  all  over 
the  forward  deck  to  soften  in  the  warm  rain,  the  mate 
producing  three  pairs  of  old  trousers  which  he  carefully 
deposited  on  the  after-hatch.  Odd  notion,  this  washing  of 
ordinary  clothes  ;  I  had  never  heard  of  such  a  thing.  The 
rain  lasted  for  an  hour,  and  the  captain  had  the  bath-tub 
filled  and  I  had  a  delightful  fresh-water  bath,  the  tempera- 
ture of  the  rain  being  79°.  Only  those  who  have  been 
compelled  to  bathe  for  weeks  in  brine  can  appreciate  the 
luxury  of  fresh  water. 

Our  calm  reminded  the  mate  at  dinner  of  a  curious  cir- 
cumstance which  happened  once  in  the  Pacific.  Quite  a 
fleet  of  ships  started  out  together  from  San  Francisco  bound 
around  the  Horn  ;  and,  keeping  well  together,  they  all  fell 
into  a  calm  streak  just  north  of  the  line  which  lasted  for 
twelve  days.  During  this  time  several  ships  passed  this 
fleet  about  fifty  miles  to  the  westward  of  them  (among 
which  was  the  "  Wandering  Jew,"  an  American  ship,  since 

63 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

burned)  with  half  a  gale  of  wind  !  This  story  seems  to  be 
quite  true,  as  the  "Jew's"  log-book  for  that  day  showed 
that  she  was  a  degree  west  of  the  becalmed  vessels,  and 
mentioned  that  they  stowed  the  fore  and  mizzentop-gal- 
lant  sails.  A  fact  of  this  sort  shows  what  different  weather 
conditions  may  exist  at  a  distance  of  less  than  one  hundred 
miles. 

We  witnessed  a  punishment  this  afternoon  which  I 
thought  was  never  resorted  to  except  in  the  navy  ;  and, 
even  there,  the  construction  of  a  modern  war-ship  neces- 
sarily precludes  it  We  were  sitting  at  the  break  of  the 
poop,  when  we  saw  a  man  coming  down  from  aloft  in  a 
hurry,  as  though  he  were  especially  anxious  to  reach  the 
deck  ;  when,  to  our  surprise,  no  sooner  had  he  done  so 
than  MacFoy  grufifly  said  to  him,  ' '  Back  you  go  ;  and 
this  time  to  the  sky-sail-yard  ;  d'ye  hear?" 

So  up  he  went  again  (it  was  Louis  Eckers,  the  youngest 
and  dullest  seaman  in  the  ship)  till  he  reached  the  main- 
royal,  when  of  course  he  had  to  '  *  shin' '  up  to  the  sky-sail- 
yard,  as  there  are  never  any  ratlines  above  the  royals. 
Presently,  though,  he  stood  upon  the  yard,  one  hundred 
and  eighty  feet  above  the  water,  grasping  the  slender  sky- 
sail  pole  with  one  arm,  and  surveying  the  deck  quite  com- 
fortably. When  he  had  been  there  about  half  an  hour, 
the  bosun  roared  out  ' '  Come  down' ' ;  and  it  was  not  till 
then  that  we  realized  that  he  had  been  mast-headed  for  bad 
conduct.  It  seems  incredible  that  a  punishment  so  humane 
should  be  resorted  to  on  a  Yankee  ship. 

The  eating  on  board,  aft  at  any  rate,  is  still  extremely 
good,  particularly  the  coffee,  which  is  put  up  in  convenient 
packages  for  sea  use  and  labelled  ''  Best  Maracaibo"  ;  thus 
there  is  no  deception,  the  greater  part  of  ''  Mocha"  having 
its  origin  in  Central  or  South  America.  Every  day  at 
meals  the  mate  seems    to  grow  more  hideous  and  gro- 

64 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

tesque,  and  he  is  the  only  man  whom  I  ever  saw  to  whom 
the  latter  adjective  could  be  applied.  His  nose,  which  is 
enormous,  is  canted  far  over  to  the  right  ;  one  nostril  is  the 
size  of  a  slate-pencil,  while  the  other  would  fit  a  small  gas- 
pipe,  and  his  dense,  kinky  moustache  becomes  at  meals  the 
lurking  place  of  various  liquids  and  solids  ;  while  ears  like 
water-lilies  expand  from  his  head  like  those  of  a  bat.  His 
table  manners  are  actually  shocking,  though  in  some  ways 
he  is  perhaps  not  much  worse  than  the  skipper,  who  con- 
trives to  decorate  the  lapels  of  his  coat  with  a  spray  of  soup 
at  each  dinner.  Some  men  embellish  the  region  of  their 
waist-bands  with  various  fluids,  but  Captain  Scruggs  is 
dexterous  enough  to  decorate  his  entire  front  with  such 
things. 

Mr.  Goggins  has  a  stock  phrase  which  is  simply  too 
absurd,  when  he  declines  anything  further  at  table.  Sup- 
pose the  captain  to  say,  "  Have  some  more  potatoes,  sir?" 
he  will  reply,  closing  one  eye  and  leering  at  the  dish  with 
the  other,  "  No-o-o,  sir,  I  thank  you,  sir  ;  I've 'ad  sufficient, 
sir,  I  thank  you,  sir."  This  answer  is  invariable,  and  it  is 
never  abbreviated  or  curtailed  in  any  way.  He  has  also  of 
late  acquired  the  extremely  objectionable  habit  of  coming 
to  the  table  with  bare  feet,  which  I  am  going  to  ask  the 
skipper  if  he  cannot  prevent.  Latitude,  5°  16'  north  ; 
longitude,  30°  5'  west. 

May  31 

Our  progress  for  this  twenty-four  hours  was  not  such  as 
would  delight  the  heart  of  a  steam- yachtsman,  for  our  dif- 
ference of  latitude  was  precisely  nothing,  and  we  made 
twenty-five  miles  of  westing,  which  would  indicate  a  cur- 
rent. The  heat,  of  course,  is  great,  and  also  the  oppres- 
siveness, everything  being  indescribably  sticky  and  soft 
The  temperature  of  the  sea  has  risen  to  correspond  with 
5  65 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

that  of  the  air,  both  standing  at  about  eighty-four  degrees  ; 
severe  rain-squalls  with  little  or  no  wind  necessitate  oil- 
skins on  deck,  for  if  your  clothes  get  wet  they  will  be  hours 
drying  in  this  weather;  indeed,  they  will  not  dry  at  all,  unless 
you  put  them  on,  when  the  heat  of  the  body  evaporates 
the  moisture.  As  we  have  been  several  days  now  in  very 
hot  weather,  we  have  had  plenty  of  opportunity  of  compar- 
ing the  cabins  of  a  wooden  and  an  iron  ship  in  the  tropics. 
As  might  have  been  expected,  that  of  the  ' '  Higgins' '  is 
cooler  than  that  of  the  iron  * '  Mandalore' '  ;  but  the  differ- 
ence is  surprisingly  little,  not  more  than  two  or  three  de- 
grees. The  principal  disparity  we  notice  at  night,  as  the 
'*  Mandalore' s"  top-sides  used  to  retain  the  heat  of  the  sun 
for  so  long  a  period  that  it  was  frequently  two  o'clock  in 
the  morning  before  the  temperature  fell  perceptibly.  The 
thermometer  now  in  our  room  stands  at  about  85*^  day  and 
night  as  against  87°  and  88°  in  the  other  ship. 

Yesterday  we  caught  a  dolphin.  It  was  a  true  dolphin, 
delphinus  delphis,  a  mammal,  the  bottle-nose  of  sailors  ; 
seafaring  people  giving  the  name  to  a  small  beautifully- 
colored  fish,  coryphoena  hippuris,  which  isn'  t  a  dolphin  at 
all. 

Scores  of  the  big,  graceful  creatures  had  been  disporting 
themselves  around  the  ship  for  several  hours,  as  many  as  a 
dozen  sometimes  simultaneously  breaking  the  water  in  a 
space  which  apparently  could  have  been  covered  with  a 
table-cloth.  By  and  by  they  aroused  the  blood-loving 
propensities  of  the  mate,  who  forthwith  rigged  his  harpoon 
and  stationed  himself  on  the  bowsprit-shrouds  to  watch  for 
his  prey.  Presently  a  dolphin  shot  under  the  martingale- 
boom,  when  zip,  the  heavy  iron  flew  through  the  air  and 
passed  completely  through  the  unhappy  creature,  whose 
blood  instantly  transformed  the  lovely  blue  of  the  sea  to  a 
rich  crimson.     Here  Mr.   Goggins  showed  indications  of 

66 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

insanity  and  bawled  for  the  watch,  who  came  running  up 
on  the  forecastle-head  with  beaming  faces.  A  dozen  hands 
seized  the  harpoon-line,  and  a  few  hearty  pulls  landed  the 
dolphin  alongside  the  starboard  anchor  amid  the  wildest 
acclamations  from  the  men.  As  he  was  to  furnish  fresh 
food  for  them  for  several  days,  however,  their  joy  was 
natural,  and  he  was  dragged  down  on  the  main  deck, 
cleaned,  and  skinned,  which  latter  process  was  accomplished 
by  slitting  the  hide  into  longitudinal  sections,  and  then, 
starting  each  strip,  three  hands  would  take  a  strong  hold 
and  with  a  hard  wrench  the  strip  or  ribbon  would  be  ripped 
off  with  a  noise  like  the  tearing  of  heavy  silk  ;  one  of  the 
men,  the  facetious  Charley  Neilsen,  suggesting  the  propriety 
of  starting  a  chanty.  After  this  had  been  accomplished, 
the  carcass  was  suspended  from  the  mainstay,  bearing  a 
singular  resemblance  to  a  hind-quarter  of  beef. 

This  morning  we  had  dolphin  liver  for  breakfast,  which 
could  scarcely  have  been  detected  from  calf's  liver,  and 
this,  with  some  new-laid  eggs  and  salt  mackerel,  afforded  us 
much  the  same  breakfast  which  we  would  have  had  ashore. 
''And  the  flesh  you  won't  know  from  beef  ;  eh,  cap'n?" 
said  Mr.  Goggins.  But  we  hardly  believed  this  and  our 
distrust  was  justified  when  a  strange  dish  was  placed  before 
the  skipper  at  dinner.     *'  What  on  earth  is  that?"  I  asked. 

"Oh,  this  is  a  dolphin  stew,"  quoth  Captain  Scruggs, 
with  much  satisfaction,  "  and  that's  just  pork  fat  on  top  to 
flavor  it." 

Whatever  it  was,  the  thing  was  in  a  deep  yellow  dish  and 
looked  like  a  wretched  meat  pie,  the  slabs  of  pork  taking 
the  place  of  crust.  But  yet  stranger  things  were  to  be  dis- 
closed ;  for  when  the  captain  inserted  a  spoon  and  sculled 
around  in  the  recesses  of  the  cavernous  redoubt,  he  brought 
to  light  and  placed  upon  our  plates  irregular  lumps  of  what 
seemed  to  be  coke,  while  some  of  the  fragments  were  of 

67 


BY    WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

that  dead  black  that  pitch  assumes,  smooth  in  places,  and 
in  others  sharp  and  ragged.  I  can  assure  the  reader  that 
a  dolphin  ragout  is  a  strange  thing. 

It  will  no  doubt  surprise  some  people  to  know  that  the 
largest  steamship  line  in  the  world  is  the  Hamburg- Ameri- 
can Company.  That  is,  its  vessels,  which  number  one 
hundred  and  twenty-four,  aggregate  the  greatest  number 
of  tons.  The  new  freight  steamers  * '  Pennsylvania' '  and 
' '  Pretoria' '  of  this  line  are  mammoth  vessels,  and  two  more 
of  the  same  class  are  now  building  by  the  Vulcan  Works  at 
Stettin.  Their  gross  tonnage  is  about  twelve  thousand 
five  hundred,  with  a  displacement  of  twenty-three  thou- 
sand tons,  and  a  carrying  capacity  of  twenty  thousand 
tons.  It  is  marvellous  that  a  vessel  should  be  able  to 
carryy  safely,  twenty-twenty-thirds  of  her  own  weight. 
The  new  White  Star  freighter  ' '  Cymric' '  slightly  exceeds 
these  vessels  in  carrying  capacity,  and  it  requires  six  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  carloads  of  freight  to  fill  her  enor- 
mous hull. 

Below  will  be  found  a  list  of  the  five  largest  steamship 
lines,  with  the  aggregate  tonnage  of  each. 

Tons 

Hamburg  American 341,000 

British  India 295,000 

North  German  Lloyd 266,000 

Peninsular  and  Oriental 251,000 

Messageries  Maritimes 279,000 

The  Cunard  Line  is  simply  swallowed  up  in  these  figures, 
and  even  the  White  Star  Line,  with  all  its  freighters,  falls 
below  them  ;  while  the  Japanese  Nippon  Yusen  Kabushiki, 
with  one  hundred  and  sixty-two  thousand  tons,  exceeds 
the  Cunard,  which  the  average  citizen  would  perhaps 
place  first  on  the  list.  Latitude  5°  16'  north  ;  longitude, 
30°  30'  west. 

68 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

June  i 

Three  weeks  at  sea  this  day,  and  we  are  involved  in  the 
vortex,  so  to  speak,  of  the  Doldrums,  with  all  which  the 
name  implies  :  intense  heat,  sultry,  humid  atmosphere,  a 
baking  sun  which  glares  down  between  heavy  showers  and 
an  almost  total  absence  of  wind.  We  were  congratulating 
ourselves  last  night,  for  at  8.30  we  took  a  northeasterly 
wind,  which  sent  us  along  at  seven  knots  through  a  sea 
spangled  with  phosphoric  jewels  and  leaving  a  wake  of  sil- 
very light  astern,  like  the  trail  of  a  meteor. 

"About,  about,  in  reel  and  route, 
The  death-tires  danced  at  night." 

But  on  issuing  from  the  companion-way  this  morning, 
lo  !  a  great  calm  was  lying  upon  the  waters  ;  while  the 
sun,  like  a  globe  of  incandescent  gold,  sent  down  terrible 
rays  of  heat,  trebly  intensified  by  the  brassy  glare  from  the 
ocean.  Perspiration  dripped  from  the  faces  of  the  weather- 
hardened  seamen  upon  the  least  exertion,  the  pigs  breathed 
in  short  gasps  and  the  poultry  stalked  about  the  deck  with 
open  bills. 

*'  Down  dropt  the  breeze,  the  sails  dropt  down, 
'Twas  sad  as  sad  could  be, 
And  we  did  speak  only  to  break 
The  silence  of  the  sea. 

**  All  in  a  hot  and  copper  sky 
The  bloody  sun  at  noon 
Right  up  above  the  masts  did  stand, 
No  bigger  than  the  moon," 

A  typical  day  of  the  low  latitudes  this.  To  me  there  is 
ever  something  wonderfully  impressive  in  an  absolute  calm, 
when  no  breath  of  wind  tarnishes  the  surface,  and  the  only 
evidence  that  the  ship  is  not  resting  upon  a  plane  of  glass 

69 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

is  to  be  found  in  an  occasional  slow,  deep  surge,  hardly 
ever  absent  when  in  the  profound  depths  of  the  ocean. 

All  around  the  northern  and  eastern  horizon  hung  superb, 
dense  masses  of  violet  cloud,  descending  at  intervals  in 
steaming  showers,  while  broad  on  the  port  bow  lay  be- 
calmed a  large  square  rigger,  hull  down,  but  lifting  at 
times  on  the  swell  till  we  could  see  her  courses  hanging  in 
the  buntlines  in  easy,  graceful  curves.  Nearer  and  nearer, 
by  imperceptible  degrees,  she  approached,  till  at  eleven 
o'clock  she  lay  not  more  than  three  miles  distant, — a 
magnificent  four-masted  bark,  bearing  the  stamp  of  the 
Clyde  upon  her  powerful  iron  hull,  and  presenting,  with 
her  double  top-gallant-yards  and  splendid  sheer,  a  per- 
fect illustration  of  the  modern  sailing  ship,  of  the  largest 
and  finest  class.  How  beautiful  and  stately  and  proud  she 
looked  as  she  floated  along,  apparently  conscious  that  she 
was  homeward  bound,  and  fully  aware  that  she  was  one  of 
the  ''swift  shuttles  of  an  empire's  loom"  which  Kipling 
mentions  in  those  fine  verses  ' '  The  Coastwise  Lights  of 
England  !' ' 

"I'll  bet  there's  nothin'  ter  eat  aboard  there  but  rice, 
hard  bread,  and  water,"  said  a  croaking  voice  at  my  elbow, 
and  the  greasy  countenance  of  the  grizzly  old  mate  was 
thrust  suddenly  into  the  foreground,  totally  destroying  the 
beauty  of  the  scene.  Mr.  Goggins  (always  Mr.)  never 
loses  a  chance  to  blackguard  his  native  country,  which 
shows  better  than  anything  else  what  sort  of  creature  he  is. 
We  made  our  number  to  the  ship,  to  which  she  replied 
with  her  own  name,  but  which  we  unfortunately  could  not 
make  out,  though,  owing  to  the  position  of  our  flags,  she 
may  have  been  able  to  do  so. 

It  is  pleasant  to  study  a  great  vessel  like  this,  and  to 
wonder  how  old  she  is  and  what  great  gales  she  must  have 
witnessed  in  her  career,  walking  up  and  down  the  world  ; 

70 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

now  perhaps  carrying  five  thousand  tons  of  grain  from 
CaHfornia  to  the  starving  multitudes  in  India  ;  now  beating 
her  way  round  tempestuous  Agulhas,  full  to  the  hatches 
with  tea  and  silk  ;  now  struggling  against  the  thunderous 
southwesterly  monsoon  in  the  Bay  of  Bengal,  homeward 
bound  from  Calcutta  with  twenty  thousand  bales  of  flossy 
jute  in  her  great  body.  God  speed  the  gallant  ship  !  Lati- 
tude, 4°  24'  north  ;  longitude,  29°  35'  west. 

June  2 

This  afternoon  was  a  perfect  scorcher,  even  worse  than 
yesterday,  and  the  sun  glittered  down  from  a  sky  absolutely 
cloudless.  Half  a  dozen  albacores  gambolled  lazily  around 
the  ship  all  day,  sometimes  casting  themselves  several  feet 
out  of  the  water  and  then  falling  back  with  such  a  splitting 
crack  that  it  was  marvellous  how  their  skins  withstood  it  ; 
and  as  these  fish  usually  weigh  about  two  hundred  pounds 
and  are  some  five  or  six  feet  in  length,  they  made  quite  a 
fascinating  display. 

Last  night  we  had  what  will  probably  be  our  last  look  at 
the  pole-star  for  a  couple  of  months.  The  sky  was  very 
clear  then  in  the  north,  showing  Polaris  just  above  the 
horizon  ;  theoretically,  the  altitude  of  this  star  is  the  ap- 
proximate latitude  in,  and  it  ought  to  be  visible  at,  the  equa- 
tor ;  but  owing  to  vapors,  etc. ,  the  polar  star  is  generally 
not  visible  south  of  5°  north. 

My  wife  is  remarkably  well  in  all  this  heat,  a  fact  well 
illustrated  by  her  hearty  appetite  at  meals,  considering  that 
what  we  eat  for  dinner  is  usually  supposed  to  be  the  ac- 
companiments of  cold  weather.  Our  noon  repast  to-day, 
as  an  example,  comprised  a  liberal  portion  of  dense,  steam- 
ing pea  soup,  hot  Boston  baked  beans,  and  brown  bread, 
followed,  topped  of?  with,  oh,  heavens  !  smoking  plum 
pudding  and  Edam  cheese  in  lumps  as  large  as  walnuts  ! 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

Most  people  would  consider  this  a  throttling  diet  on  the 
equator,  and  so  it  is,  more  or  less  ;  but  our  appetites  are  so 
fine  that  just  now  we  don' t  mind  such  a  little  inconvenience 
as  Boston  beans  bubbling  in  pork  fat. 

At  supper  the  heat  was  worse  than  ever  and  we  were 
hurrying  to  get  on  deck,  when  my  wife  called  attention  to 
the  strange,  yellow  tinge  of  a  cloud-bank  right  ahead, 
which  we  could  see  through  the  cabin  door. 

"  Oh,  it's  nothing  at  all,"  said  the  skipper  ;  but,  as  if  to 
nail  his  words,  there  came  a  blast  of  cold  wind,  which  heeled 
the  ship  over  to  the  scuppers  and  sent  the  captain  and 
mate  flying  on  deck.  We  followed  instantly,  and  beheld  a 
thrilling  sight.  Ahead,  from  southwest  to  east,  the  sky 
was  covered  with  thick,  windy-looking,  saffron  clouds, 
rushing  rapidly  toward  us  ;  while  the  sea,  as  black  as  be- 
neath a  summer  thunder-squall,  was  whipped  into  angry, 
spitting  white-caps,  through  which  we  were  just  beginning 
to  force  our  way.  In  the  northwest,  over  against  this 
gloomy  scene  of  dun  vapor  and  dark,  foam-flecked  water, 
gleamed  the  sun,  just  setting  in  golden  splendor,  encir- 
cled with  wonderful  clouds  of  the  most  delicate  blues  and 
grays. 

Meanwhile,  the  ship  was  in  the  wildest  uproar  which  we 
had  seen  yet.  The  newly  washed  clothes  had  been  hung 
in  lines  across  the  poop,  and  they  were  thrashing  about 
like  tattered  flags  ;  while  ever  and  anon  detached  clothes- 
pins whistled  by,  necessitating  very  lively  dodging.  On 
the  main-deck  sixteen  sailors  were  doing  absolutely  nothing 
but  casting  off  the  wrong  braces  ;  while  ropes  were  flying, 
sails  were  slatting  and  booming,  the  bosuns  were  jumping 
about  sulphurous  with  profanity,  and  Mr.  Goggins  in  five 
minutes  had  so  far  lost  command  of  himself  as  to  lean  help- 
lessly against  a  capstan,  quite  speechless.  Captain  Scruggs 
stood  at  the  weather  poop-ladder  shouting  commands,  to 

72 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

which  no  one  paid  any  attention,  such  as,  '*  Brace  up  those 
head-yards  there  ;  what's  the  matter  with  you,  Mr.  What's- 
your-name?  Come  out  o'  that  trance  and  git  a  watch- 
tackle  on  the  foresheet.  Hurry  up  that  handy-billy  now  ; 
or  maybe  you  want  me  to  show  you  what  a  handy-billy  is." 
(This  with  blighting  sarcasm.)  "  Bosun,  get  that  jib-top- 
sail in  !"  The  trumpeting  of  a  rogue  elephant  couldn't 
have  been  worse  than  the  roar  in  which  these  orders  were 
given,  and  the  relief  was  infinite  when  objects  began  to 
straighten  themselves  out  and  the  skipper  went  below.  At 
seven  o'  clock  we  were  doing  eight  knots,  steering  south- 
west by  the  wind.  **The  southeast  Trades,"  said  the 
captain,  positively  ;  *  *  they  always  come  in  a  squall  like 
that. ' '  But,  so  far  from  this  being  the  truth,  the  wind  had 
let  go  entirely  at  eleven,  and  we  were  once  more  lying  idly 
on  a  motionless  sea.  Latitude,  3°  50'  north  ;  longitude, 
29°  3'  west. 

June  3 

Even  Captain  Scruggs' s  proverbial  good  luck  seems  to 
have  vanished,  for  we  have  not  made  more  than  fifty  miles 
per  diem  for  several  days,  usually  drifting  about  all  over 
the  ocean  without  steerage-way,  until  a  squall  comes  along 
every  two  hours  or  so  and  sends  us  ahead  four  or  five 
miles.  The  skipper  lately  has  kept  his  temper  well  for  so 
intolerant  a  man,  but  it  is  now  oozing  rapidly  away,  and 
he  rolls  out  a  reverberating  oath  at  the  men  every  few 
minutes,  at  whom  he  rages  for  apparently  nothing.  He 
seems  to  think  that  the  most  laborious  tasks  ought  to  be 
accomplished  instantaneously,  and  he  stuns  Jimmie  Rumps 
now  and  then  with  something  like,  "I'll  learn  yer  to  obey 
with  the  end  of  a  rope,  for  yer  can't  pull  any  more  than 

somebody's  d cow"  ;  and  constantly  asks  him,  "Ain't 

yer  got  a  mouth  on  yer  to  answer  with  ?" 

73 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

I  had  a  talk  with  Coleman  the  other  day.  This  man  is 
the  graven  image  of  the  conventional  Mephistopheles,  and 
arrived,  together  with  Olsen,  at  New  York,  on  the  Ameri- 
can ship  "  S.  P.  Hitchcock"  a  fortnight  before  we  sailed, 
ninety-two  days  from  Honolulu.  Coleman  couldn't  say 
enough  in  favor  of  Captain  Gates  (indeed,  every  one  speaks 
well  of  him),  adding,  "  She's  a  bloody  sight  different  from 
this  packet."  In  saying  which  he  alluded  to  Captain 
Scruggs' s  abusive  manner  when  talking  to  the  men,  which 
is  entirely  unnecessary  and  doesn't  do  any  good.  Sailors, 
of  course,  can't  bear  this  when  they  are  doing  their  best, 
and  will  make  it  just  as  hard  as  they  can  for  a  captain  in 
return.  In  the  face  of  several  recent  outrageous  pieces  of 
cruelty  on  our  ships,  I  do  not  think  that  our  skipper  will 
personally  lay  hands  on  the  men.  Still,  you  cannot  tell  to 
what  length  he  will  go  when  we  have  been  together  three  or 
four  months. 

The  mate  approached  us  last  evening  and  gave  it  as 
his  opinion  that  we'd  never  see  the  big  steel  Bath  ship 
"Dirigo"  again.  "Why  not?"  said  I;  "she  had  not 
been  more  than  one  hundred  and  sixty  days  at  sea  when 
we  sailed. ' ' 

'  *  I  know  ;  that' s  all  right, ' '  he  answered  ;  ' '  but  she  was 
spoken  ofT  the  Horn  by  the  Briddish  ship  'Howth,'  that 
arrived  a  month  before  we  left.  Oh,  you'll  never  see  her 
again."  That's  the  way  with  this  individual, — he  always 
thinks  that  something  is  going  to  happen.  Then  he  sud- 
denly asked, — 

' '  Do  you  know  wot  Dirigo  means  ?' ' 

I  told  him  that  I  did  know  what  it  meant, — "  I  direct." 

"Naw,"  he  replied;  "hit's  the  motto  of  the  State  of 
Maine,  and  means  'go  ahead'  "  ;  and  when  I  tried  to  tell 
him  that  that  was  a  very  free  translation  of  it,  he  said,  "  I 
don't  care  for  no  translation  ;  in  the  Greek  language  it 

74 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

means  *  go  ahead. '  ' '     Such  incontrovertible  evidence  was, 
of  course,  indisputable. 

Mr.  Rarx,  the  second  mate,  is  of  an  altogether  different 
type  from  Mr.  Goggins.  He  has  more  natural  intelligence, 
is  very  neat  and  clean,  and  is,  besides,  a  far  better  seaman, 
and  handles  the  men  in  such  a  way  as  to  get  twice  as  much 
work  accomplished  in  a  watch  as  the  mate.  But  I  am  in- 
clined to  think  that  he  has  a  very  bad  temper,  from  the 
motion  he  made  with  a  fid  the  other  day  at  two  of  the 
sailors  who  had  made  a  mistake  with  a  splice  ;  and  when 
he  told  me  about  an  easy  voyage  which  he  had  just  made 
in  the  "  William  H.  Smith,"  and  added,  '*  I  didn't  have  to 
speak  cross  to  the  men  once  from  Singapore  to  New  York," 
he  looked  at  me  very  hard,  and  it  seemed  as  though  he 
were  **  sounding"  me,  to  see  whether  I  would  believe 
improbable  yarns.     Still,  I  may  be  doing  him  injustice. 

Perhaps  the  most  agreeable  man  in  the  ship  is  David 
MacFoy,  and  we  talked  together  for  half  an  hour  yesterday 
at  about  six  o'clock.  "This  is  a  tedious  place,  mister," 
said  he  ;  "  we  were  three  weeks  here  in  the  Doldrums  a 
couple  of  months  ago  in  the  '  P.  N.  Blanchard,'  from 
Manila  to  Boston.  We'll  be  awhile  here  now  if  signs 
count  ;  and  what's  that  we've  got  ahead  of  us? — the  Horn 
in  mid-winter  !  Oh  dear,  dear  !  The  last  time  I  went 
round  to  the  westward  was  in  the  *  Tam  o'  Shanter,'  a 
couple  of  years  ago  now,  and  we  were  forty-nine  days  of! 
Cape  Horn,  and  that  much  snow  that  in  half  an  hour  the 
lee  decks  would  be  full  o'  drift.  But  d'ye  know,  I'd  rather 
double  the  Horn  to  the  west'ard  than  run  the  eastin'  down 
goin'  out  to  China  and  Australia.  If  yer  do  get  heavier 
sou' west  gales  there,  you're  hove  to  comfortable-like  ;  but 
runnin'  to  the  east'ard,  it's  a  terrible  thing  to  have  them 
greyhounds  a-chasin'  yer.  On  the  last  passage  out  to 
Wellington  two  hands  were  washed  overboard  out  o'  the 

75 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

waist,  another  was  washed  away  from  the  wheel  off  the 
poop,  and  a  fourth  poor  fellow  fell  from  the  upper  mizzen- 
top-sail-yard,  and  only  lived  ten  minutes.  Oh  !  that  other's 
a  crool  cape,  sir.  No,  I'm  not  married  ;  there's  too  many 
grog-shops  around.  Now,  look  :  when  I  landed  in  Boston 
a  few  weeks  ago  from  the  *  Blanchard'  I  had  a  hundred  and 
seventy-six  dollars  comin'  to  me.  That  was  on  a  Friday. 
The  next  Monday  I  landed  in  New  York  with  fifty  cents, 
and  signed  here  next  day  ;  but  that  was  pretty  quick 
work." 

This,  and  much  more,  did  the  big,  handsome  Scot  reveal 
to  me,  in  the  pleasant  accents  of  his  native  land,  and  with 
that  knack  of  story-telling  which  so  many  ship-masters 
imagine  that  they  possess,  to  the  chagrin  and  distraction  of 
their  friends.  I  expect  many  more  agreeable  half-hours 
with  this  interesting  fellow,  for  he  instils  much  individuality 
into  his  tales.  Nor  will  I  ever  forget  him  as  he  leaned 
against  the  pin-rail  in  the  dusk  this  evening,  his  clean 
checked  jumper  lying  open  across  his  brown  chest,  as 
round  as  a  barrel,  and  his  head  shaded  by  a  wide-brimmed 
felt  hat.     He  is  an  ideal  bosun. 

Being  now  in  one  of  the  great  ocean  cross-roads,  we  are 
constantly  sighting  vessels,  both  steamers  and  wind-jam- 
mers, bound  north  and  south,  the  steamers  being  those  on 
the  voyage  to  and  from  the  river  Plate  and  Brazil  to  the 
United  States  and  Europe.  Yesterday  we  sighted  five 
vessels,  but  none  near  enough  to  speak.  Latitude,  3°  40' 
north  ;  longitude,  27°  50'  west. 

June  4 

Our  calm  hot  weather  continues  with  no  indications  of  a 
break,  and  the  sun  is  continuously  obscured  by  heavy, 
cumulus  clouds,  though  the  heat  is  scarcely  so  overpower- 
ing as  it  was  a  day  or  two  ago.      But  the  humidity  is  suffo- 

76 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

eating,  and  as  we  have  no  sun,  rugs,  towels,  and  every- 
thing else  feel  almost  wet  to  the  touch.  Last  evening  we 
had  a  sharp  squall  at  6. 30,  for  which  we  lowered  the  sky- 
sails  and  luffed  smardy  at  the  same  time.  Very  heavy  rain 
fell  too,  making  the  fourteenth  hard  shower  of  the  day. 
In  the  middle  watch  last  night,  the  mate  said  that  the 
heaviest  rain  fell  which  he  had  ever  seen,  together  with  a 
single  dazzling  lightning-flash  and  a  simultaneous  crash  of 
thunder. 

In  our  lives  we  have  witnessed  many  scenes  of  great 
tumult,  but  never  have  I  seen  any  to  compare  with  that  on 
board  this  ship  this  afternoon  at  four  o'clock.  Captain 
Scruggs  had  been  growling  and  yapping  around  the  main- 
deck  all  day,  cursing  everything,  and  particularly  the  light 
air  which  came  fanning  along,  whenever  it  fanned  at  all, 
straight  out  of  the  south.  Thus  far  we  had  not  once 
tacked  ship,  though  several  times  the  wind  had  shifted  so 
as  to  bring  it  on  the  other  side.  We  were  crawling  along 
then  this  afternoon  toward  the  east  when  eight  bells  went 
and  both  watches  came  on  deck  ;  while  in  another  minute, 
without  previous  warning,  the  skipper  yapped  out,  "All 
hands  'bout  ship."  Paint-brushes  and  serving-mallets 
were  dropped  and  tar-pots  stowed  away,  while  every  one 
hastened  to  obey  the  summons. 

Now,  there  is  always  more  or  less  confusion  the  first  time 
that  a  square-rigger  tacks  or  wears  on  a  voyage,  though  if 
everybody  keeps  his  head  there  ought  not  to  be  so  very 
much  ;  and  if  our  skipper  had  only  let  Mr.  Goggins  attend 
to  the  small  details  there  wouldn't  have  been  a  tenth  of 
the  disorder  here.  From  the  moment  that  the  helm  was 
put  down,  however,  until  we  filled  away  on  the  other  leg 
the  ship  was  hke  a  mad-house  at  recess.  I  don't  believe 
that  there  ever  was  heard  on  a  vessel's  deck  such  yelling, 
or  howling,  which  is  a  more  comprehensive  word.     Nearly 

77 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

every  order  given  by  either  mate  the  captain  at  once  coun- 
termanded, sometimes  without  knowing  it,  often  on  pur- 
pose. The  main-deck  was  full  of  capstan-bars,  lead  blocks 
and  braces,  which  had  been  cast  of!  when  the  order  came 
to  'bout  ship  ;  and  over  and  among  these  encumbrances 
eighteen  men  wrangled,  stamped,  and  swore  to  an  accom- 
paniment of  chattering  blocks  and  thrashing  canvas,  as  the 
ship  came  up  to  the  wind,  the  mates  cuffing  and  thumping 
the  awkward  ones  with  unflagging  diligence,  Mr.  Goggins 
lumbering  heavily  aft  to  administer  a  painful  booting  to 
that  hapless  creature,  Neils  Briin,  who  has  been  in  almost 
continuous  trouble  since  the  mate  nearly  pulled  his  ear  off, 
a  fortnight  ago. 

And  where  was  the  master  of  the  ship  all  this  time? 
Behold  him  at  the  break  of  the  poop  raging  like  the 
heathen,  while  at  times  he  shook  both  fists  together  above 
his  head  and  swore  like  a  pirate,  as  his  voice  went  booming 
and  crashing  above  the  noise  of  battle.  But  the  full  glory 
of  the  scene  was  reached  when,  a  few  moments  after  he  had 
roared  out  * '  Maintop-sail,  haul  !' '  the  main-brace  jammed 
in  the  brace-block  and  wouldn't  render.  His  passion  was 
almost  fearful  as  he  called  upon  the  blank-blank-blankety 
who  fouled  the  brace  to  show  himself ;  while  he  jumped  off 
the  poop  and  raged  away,  tearing  the  braces  apart  as 
though  he  were  wringing  some  one's  neck.  Even  the 
second  mate  lost  his  head  once  as  the  old  man  shouted  to 
his  bosun,  "  I  told  yer  to  let  go  that  t' gallant-brace,  didn't 
I  ?  Do  yer  want  me  to  show  yer  how  it's  done  ?  I  will  ; 
but  I'll  wipe  the  deck  with  yer  first.  Where  are  yer 
steerin'  the  ship  to,  yer  at  the  wheel  ?  Maybe  yer'  d  like 
to  have  her  aback  ?' ' 

Now,  if  we  had  never  been  to  sea  before,  we  might  have 
supposed  that  this  was  the  necessary  and  proper  manner 
of  putting  a  ship  about ;  but  as  we  had  seen  the  '  *  Manda- 

78     . 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

lore"  under  similar  conditions  several  times,  where  there 
was  almost  perfect  order  during  such  evolutions,  this  scene 
was  positively  astounding,  and  disgusted  us  with  Captain 
Scruggs.  He  is  manifestly  a  fine  seaman  (American  ship- 
masters are  invariably  that),  but  he  loses  command  of 
himself  and  every  one  else  as  soon  as  there  is  anything  to 
be  done. 

Although  the  American  sailing  ships  have  decreased  in 
numbers  amazingly  in  the  last  twenty-five  years,  there 
being  in  1871  twenty- four  hundred  and  sixty-six  square- 
rigged  vessels  under  the  flag,  as  against  four  hundred  and 
fifty-six  at  the  present  time,  there  seems  to  be  good  reason 
to  think  that  an  increase  in  this  branch  of  ship-building  is 
about  to  commence.  Arthur  Sewall,  the  great  Bath  ship- 
owner, has  a  large  three-thousand-ton  vessel  completed 
and  the  keel  of  another  one  laid  down,  both  of  steel, 
while  it  is  not  improbable  that  he  will  build  a  fleet  of  such 
sailing  ships.  Think  of  our  immense  trade  to  the  East 
fifty  years  since,  and  then  ponder  on  the  fact  that  not 
long  ago  the  only  vessel  which  entered  the  port  of  Calcutta 
flying  the  American  flag  for  a  period  of  four  years  was  a 
British-built  steam-yacht  !  That  sailing  vessels  in  general 
are  not  passing  away  as  rapidly  as  people  suppose,  how- 
ever, was  shown  by  a  circumstance  that  occurred  about  six 
months  ago,  when  the  freight-steamer  ' '  Massachusetts' ' 
arrived  one  day  at  New  York  from  London  and  reported 
that  in  twelve  hours  she  passed  fifty-four  sailing  vessels  of 
various  rigs,  all  close-hauled  on  the  starboard  tack  !  Her 
approximate  position  then  was  latitude  48°,  longitude  27°. 

For  several  days  the  men  have  been  setting  up  the  rig- 
ging fore  and  aft,  and  they  are  now  finishing  the  mizzen- 
top-gallant,  royal  and  sky-sail  backstays.  It  was  a  tedious 
job,  but  intensely  interesting  to  watch,  and  I  had  never 
seen  it  done  before  on  a  square-rigger,  as  the  other  ship's 

79 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

rigging  was  set  up  with  turnbuckles.      Latitude,   3°  22' 
north  ;  longitude,  27°  50'  west. 

June  5 

We  think  that  we  have  taken  the  southeast  Trades, 
though  the  wind  as  yet  is  nothing  to  the  eastward  of  south. 
Last  evening  the  dense  rain-clouds  and  vapory  masses  of 
the  Doldrums  gave  way  to  a  clear  sky  dotted  with  trade 
clouds,  and  a  lovely  night  followed,  the  moon  in  the  first 
quarter  being  visible  for  the  first  time  in  many  days.  We 
had  also  a  magnificent  view  of  the  southern  heavens,  with 
the  golden  Cross  now  well  up,  wheeling  slowly  through  the 
sky,  the  finest  constellation  in  the  south.  Immediately  be- 
neath, though  a  little  to  the  left  of,  the  Cross  a  strange 
thing  is  to  be  observed  in  the  shape  of  what  seems  to  be  a 
large  pear-shaped  blot  in  the  surrounding  stars,  bearing  a 
close  resemblaace  to  a  dark  cloud,  about  the  same  size  as 
the  Cross  itself.  Within  this  space,  which  sailors  call  the 
Black  Cloud,  not  a  single  star  can  be  observed  with  the 
naked  eye,  though  the  sky  round  about  the  Cross  in  every 
other  direction  is  thick  with  stars  of  the  third  and  fourth 
magnitude. 

At  eight  o'  clock  this  evening  we  tacked  ship  for  the  third 
or  fourth  time  to-day,  and  by  reason  of  so  much  practice 
this  herculean  task  was  accomplished  with  a  little  less  noise 
than  before.  Still,  the  disturbance  was  very  great,  with  a 
prodigious  amount  of  shouting  and  bad  language  from  the 
skipper,  which  once  more  rose  to  a  climax  when  one  of  the 
fore  buntlines  caught  on  something,  just  after  he  had  sung 
out  ' '  Let  go  and  haul. ' '  Captain  Scruggs,  who  was  stand- 
ing at  the  extreme  forward  end  of  the  cabin-house,  here 
executed  a  few  fantastic  steps  to  relieve  his  mind,  and  being 
clearly  outlined  in  the  moonlight,  he  made  a  very  idiotic 
appearance.     The  manoeuvre  of  tacking  on  this  occasion, 

80 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

by  the  way,  was  a  very  impressive  one,  the  white  moon- 
beams transforming  the  dull  gray  canvas  into  cloths  of 
satiny  sheen  as  the  great  yards  revolved  to  maintop-sail 
haul. 

It  must  be  said  that  the  captain  was  justified  to-day 
in  kicking  at  the  weather.  The  breeze  was  of  the  very 
faintest  sort,  and  as  often  as  we  tacked  ship  the  wind  act- 
ually seemed  to  jump  around  and  head  us  off,  so  that,  after 
we  were  once  more  braced  up  on  the  port  tack  this  evening 
and  the  wind  shifted  back  and  into  the  south,  heading  us 
of?  to  nearly  west,  we  really  began  to  pity  the  skipper. 

The  phosphoric  display  here  is  the  most  beautiful  which 
we  have  ever  seen.  Our  wake  every  night  is  a  swirling, 
gyrating,  writhing  path  of  liquid  fire,  in  which  glitter  thou- 
sands of  apparently  incandescent  globes  as  large  as  billiard- 
balls,  with  now  and  then  a  suggestion  of  fiery  serpents 
twisting  and  wriggling  through  the  glowing  mass. 

"  Beyond  the  shadow  of  the  ship 
I  watched  the  water-snakes  ; 
They  moved  in  tracks  of  shining  white, 
And  when  they  reared,  the  elfish  light 
Fell  off  in  hoary  flakes. 

**  Within  the  shadow  of  the  ship 

I  watched  their  rich  attire  ; 
Blue,  glossy  green,  and  velvet  black, 
They  coiled  and  swam  ;  and  every  track 

Was  a  flash  of  golden  fire." 

How  singularly  devoid  some  men  are  of  decent  feelings  ! 
I  talked  last  evening  at  the  pumps  with  Murphy  (he  whose 
nose  was  pulled)  and  Rumps.  The  latter  was  boasting  as 
to  how  long  he  could  stay  drunk  without  seeing  startling 
visions,  and  rejoiced  in  saying  that  he  had  been  in  the  lock- 
up of  more  than  one  city  in  the  United  States.  Murphy, 
6  Si 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

however,  bowled  him  completely  over  by  remarking  quite 
calmly,  ' '  I  been  in  the  jail  of  every  large  seaport  in  the 
world. ' ' 

Though  the  temperature  is  just  as  high,  84°  at  noon  on 
deck,  the  humidity  has  almost  disappeared  and  the  weather 
seems  clear  and  settled.  Latitude,  2°  49'  north  ;  longitude, 
27°  west. 

June  6 

Indications  seem  to  point  with  certainty  to  our  having 
taken  the  southeast  Trades,  for  a  strong  breeze  sprang  up 
at  six  this  morning,  descending  upon  us  in  a  squall.  We 
trembled  lest  it  should  prove  naught  but  a  pufi  ;  but  we 
had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  it  steadily  increase,  so  that 
four  hours  later  we  had  logged  thirty-four  miles,  close- 
hauled,  laying  our  course,  the  wind  being  strong  and  true 
at  southeast.  It  might  not  be  thought  amiss  if  I  state 
here  what  the  origin  of  the  trade-winds  is.  They  are  due 
to  the  inrush  of  cold  air  from  the  poles  towards  the  equator 
to  take  the  place  of  the  warm  current  which  rises  from  the 
latter.  Owing  to  the  easterly  rotation  of  the  earth  on  its 
own  axis  the  air  from  the  north  becomes  a  northeast  wind, 
and  that  from  the  south  a  southeast  wind.  The  hot  air 
flows  to  the  poles  as  an  upper  current,  and,  having  been 
cooled  there,  it  descends  to  the  surface  of  the  earth  to  form 
the  westerly  or  anti-trade-winds. 

At  8.30  this  morning  a  vessel  was  sighted  to  windward, 
bound  north,  which  soon  resolved  itself  into  a  tramp 
steamer.  Here  was  an  excellent  chance  to  be  reported  ; 
so  telHng  the  helmsman  to  hold  her  up  as  much  as  pos- 
sible, the  captain  hauled  out  the  flags  DRHF,  bent  them 
on  to  the  signal-halliards,  and  when  he  thought  that  the 
steamer  had  opened  out  our  monkey-gaff,  he  told  the  mate 
to  hoist  away  ;  which,   being  a  very  simple  operation,  he 

82 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

accomplished  without  accident ;  and  in  a  few  seconds  the 
flags  which  spelled  our  name  were  fluttering  merrily  away 
a  hundred  feet  above  the  deck.  Anxiously  we  waited,  but 
no  answering  pennant  showed  from  the  steamer,  and  we 
were  about  to  blast  her  skipper  with  deep-sea  anathemas, 
when  she  was  observed  to  alter  her  course  at  right  angles 
and  come  bearing  down  upon  us,  pushing  a  big  snow-bank 
of  foam  ahead  of  her  bluff  bows.  On  she  came,  as  if  to 
lay  us  aboard,  until  she  was  within  half  a  mile,  when  she 
shifted  her  helm  again,  describing  a  deep  circle,  while  at 
the  same  instant  the  familiar  little  red-and-white-striped 
pennant  flew  up  to  her  triadic  stay,  meaning  '  *  I  understand 
you"  ;  down  came  our  flags  on  the  run  and  "  Report  me  all 
well"  was  hoisted  instead,  or  rather  it  wasn't  hoisted  until 
after  the  skipper  had  discovered  that  the  miserable  Goggins 
had  run  up  **  Steer  after  me"  by  mistake,  which  necessi- 
tated some  lightning  changes,  as  the  stranger  was  moving 
rapidly  away.  Again  the  gay  little  triangle  fluttered  from 
the  latter,  while  we  ran  the  stars  and  stripes  to  the  gaf?  and 
dipped  three  times,  the  other  reciprocating  with  the  scarlet 
ensign  of  Great  Britain.  The  steamer  then  kept  away,  and 
in  half  an  hour  was  a  blot  in  the  northeast  ;  from  her  course 
the  skipper  thinks  that  she  was  from  Pernambuco  bound  to 
the  Cape  de  Verde.  Now,  here  is  a  man  who  deserves  to  be 
publicly  commended,  and  I  wish  that  we  had  caught  the 
steamer's  name,  that  it  might  appear  in  these  pages.  How 
many  steamer  captains  are  there  who  will  alter  the  course 
for  the  purpose  of  speaking  a  mere  wind-jammer?  This 
incident  seems  to  refute  the  assertion  which  is  often  made 
about  the  careless  and  what-are-you-to-me-spirit  of  British 
ship-masters,  for  no  one  could  be  more  civil  or  polite  than 
the  captain  of  this  tramp  ;  rivalling  in  this  respect  the 
Germans,  who  are  said  to  be  the  most  painstaking  of  all 
the  nationalities  in  the  reporting  of  vessels. 

83 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE    HORN 

I  nearly  forgot  an  agreeable  break  in  the  monotony  of 
yesterday.  We  sighted  a  brig  in  the  forenoon  ahead  and 
to  windward  ;  and  though  she  had  a  lot  of  fore  and  aft 
canvas  set,  which  ought  to  have  held  her  up  well,  we  rapidly 
ate  up  towards  her,  so  that  at  four  o'  clock  she  was  ahead 
and  a  little  to  leeward.  We  gradually  crawled  up  on  her 
then,  and  in  another  fifteen  minutes  had  her  abeam,  so  close 
that  the  features  of  her  helmsman  were  clearly  visible. 
Then  I  thought  of  our  megaphone,  presented  to  us  just 
before  we  sailed,  and  here  was  a  grand  opportunity  of 
putting  it  to  practical  use.  So  I  brought  it  up  on  deck 
and  the  following  conversation  ensued  : 

* '  Hello  !  what  brig  is  that  ?' ' 

'*The   'Venturer,'    of  Nova   Scotia,   from   Philadelphia 

for ' '     Here  followed  a  terrific  aggregation  of  syllables 

which  we  couldn't  catch. 

' '  When  did  you  sail  ?' ' 

"May  7,  from  Delaware  Breakwater.  What  ship  is 
that?" 

"The  'Hosea  Higgins,'  from  New  York  for  San  Fran- 
cisco. Please  report  us  all  well. ' '  A  flourish  of  the  arm 
from  a  man  on  her  poop  answered  our  request,  which 
ended  the  interview.  The  megaphone  worked  beautifully, 
though  they  are  of  no  use  in  windy  weather.  Of  course, 
the  mate,  never  having  seen  one,  felt  it  his  duty  to  jeer 
at  it,  which  he  did  by  saying,  "That  thing,  whatever 
yer  call  it,  's  no  good  ;  I  could  hear  better' n  you  without 
it." 

Reference  to  a  copy  of  the  Maritime  Register  on  board 
showed  that  the  "Venturer"  was  of  one  hundred  and 
ninety-three  tons,  hailed  from  Weymouth,  Nova  Scotia, 
and  was  bound  to  Margem  do  Torquary,  Brazil  ;  small 
wonder  that  we  couldn't  understand  it  before.  It  reminds 
me  of  an  Italian  bark  which  sailed  from  New  York  a  short 

84 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

time  ago  for  Alexandretta,  the  * '  Nostra  Signora  del  Sacro 
Cuoro  di  Jesu." 

The  "  Venturer"  was  what  is  usually  known  as  a  tidy 
little  vessel,  and  she  made  a  really  fine  picture  as  she  surged 
buoyantly  along  over  the  watery  hillocks.  Accurately, 
she  was  a  brigantine,  and  we  got  several  very  fair  photo- 
graphs of  her,  though  the  light  was  bad.  Altogether,  we 
sight  about  a  dozen  vessels  a  day  now,  which  shows  how 
densely  populated  the  Atlantic  is  near  the  equator. 

A  circumstance  quite  surprising  is  the  frequency  with 
which  the  mates  leave  the  poop  when  on  watch  ;  indeed, 
a  good  deal  more  than  half  of  their  time  is  spent  on  the 
main-deck  ;  whereas  on  ships  of  foreign  nations  it  is  the 
general  rule  that  the  officer  of  the  watch  shall  never  leave 
the  poop  unless  he  has  some  excellent  reason  ;  common 
sense  shows  the  desirability  of  always  keeping  an  officer 
where  he  will  have  full  command  of  the  ship. 

Well,  we're  doing  grandly  now,  and  at  noon  were  only 
ninety-five  miles  from  the  equator,  and  should  cross  it  be- 
tween one  and  two  o'clock  to-morrow  morning.  Latitude, 
1°  35'  north  ;  longitude,  27°  52'  west. 

June  7 

South  latitude  !  Our  expectations  were  fulfilled,  for  we 
entered  the  Southern  Hemisphere  in  the  morning  watch, 
crossing  the  great  circle  which  circumscribes  the  earth  at 
fifteen  minutes  past  four.  Thus  we  have  entered  upon  the 
second  stage  of  our  voyage  ;  and  while  the  first  quarter 
was  certainly  not  everything  which  could  be  desired,  we 
reached  the  line  in  very  good  time,  twenty-seven  days 
from  New  York.  If  we  had  had  even  a  little  better  luck 
in  the  Doldrums,  four  days  could  have  been  stricken  from 
the  twenty-seven  ;  this  is  a  far  better  passage,  though,  than 
we  made  in  the  ''  Mandalore, "  when  we  had  been  forty-nine 

85 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

days  at  sea  before  we  finally  cut  the  equator.  Perhaps  the 
most  comforting  part  is  the  fact  that  the  skipper  seems  to 
have  exhausted  his  supply  of  aguardiente,  for  he  has  been 
very  solemn  and  strictly  sober  for  three  or  four  days. 
Heaven  grant  that  he  has  no  more  grog  ! 

This  weather  is  so  magnificent  now  that  the  memory  of 
our  late  smothering  calms,  during  which  we  were  eight 
days  in  making  four  degrees  of  southing,  has  entirely  passed 
away,  for  we  are  humming  through  the  water  at  eight 
knots,  close-hauled,  with  streaming  scuppers,  while  the 
superb  southeast  trade-wind  sings  a  blithesome  tune  in 
the  rigging.  It  is  the  grandest  wind  that  blows  ;  so  cool 
and  steady,  and  the  ocean  so  sparkles  under  its  influence, 
with  a  snow-white  crest  topping  each  sea,  reflecting  the 
splendid  blue  of  the  heavens  in  its  azure  depths,  that  ex- 
istence becomes  an  unbounded  delight.  I  think,  too,  that 
the  finest  cloud  effects  which  we  saw  on  our  first  voyage 
were  in  the  southeast  Trades.  True  to  precedence,  yes- 
terday afternoon  at  four  o'  clock  the  northeastern  sky  was 
obscured  by  a  huge  dark  cloud  of  the  color  of  indigo,  and 
rendered  doubly  so  by  the  sun  shining  upon  it ;  this  cloud 
extended  almost  to  the  sea-rim,  black  and  frowning,  while 
immediately  beneath  it,  on  the  horizon,  appeared  some  far- 
away masses  of  cumulus  cloud  of  a  most  beautiful  cream 
color,  enchanting  the  mind  with  their  loveliness  and  re- 
sembling great  yellow  icebergs. 

As  we  were  contemplating  this  spectacle,  MacFoy  sung 
out  something  which  I  thought  was  ' '  Vessel  on  the  lee. ' ' 
The  mate  then  went  aloft  for  a  better  view,  and  when  he 
had  come  down  I  asked  him  if  he  could  see  the  vessel,  to 
which  he  replied,  "St.  Paul's  Rocks."  This  excited  us 
at  once,  and  I  went  up  to  the  cross-jack-yard,  from  which 
elevation  I  plainly  saw  against  a  dark  cloud  what  appeared 
to  be  twin  light-houses,  like  Thatcher's   Island   lights  at 

86 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE    HORN 

Cape  Ann,  Massachusetts.  Although  fifteen  miles  distant 
at  the  time,  and  the  weather  was  slightly  hazy,  these  two 
rocky  columns  rising  from  a  depth  of  two  thousand  fathoms, 
the  only  land  within  hundreds  of  miles,  produced  an  effect 
wonderfully  majestic  and  solemn.  The  exact  position  of 
the  rocks  is  o°  55'  30"  north  and  29°  22'  west,  and  they 
are  five  in  number,  though  only  two  are  of  considerable 
altitude,  the  loftiest  being  one  hundred  feet  in  height. 
They  are  separated  from  each  other  only  by  narrow  chasms, 
so  that  until  you  approach  very  close  the  appearance  is 
that  of  a  single  island.  The  whole  space  occupied  by  St. 
Paul's  Rocks  does  not  exceed  five  hundred  yards  in  length 
and  three  hundred  in  breadth  ;  and  while  Darwin  concluded 
that  they  were  not  of  volcanic  origin,  more  modern  sci- 
entists— Renard,  Geikie,  and  Wadsworth — have  decided 
that  they  are  eruptive.  These  rocks  are  totally  devoid  of 
vegetation,  but  are  the  resort  of  incredible  numbers  of  sea- 
birds,  both  gannets  and  noddies,  as  well  as  a  certain  spider, 
while  the  w^ater  in  the  vicinity  swarms  with  fish,  seven 
varieties  having  been  taken  by  the  ' '  Challenger' '  during  a 
very  short  stay. 

Captain  (afterward  Admiral)  Fitzroy,  when  in  command 
of  the  ' '  Beagle' '  during  her  celebrated  five  years'  voyage, 
visited  these  rocks,  and  wrote  an  admirable  description 
thereof.  Among  his  observations  is  the  following  :  '  *  The 
multitude  of  birds  covering  the  rocks  was  astonishing,  and 
they  suffered  themselves  to  be  kicked  about  and  killed  with 
sticks  ;  at  the  same  time  those  on  the  wing  even  darkened 
the  sky.  Numbers  of  fine  fish,  like  the  grouper  of  Ber- 
muda, bit  eagerly  at  baited  hooks  ;  but  as  soon  as  a  fish 
was  caught  a  rush  of  voracious  sharks  was  made  at  him, 
and  notwithstanding  blows  of  oars  and  boat-hooks,  the 
ravenous  monsters  could  not  be  deterred  from  seizing  and 
taking  away  more  than  half  the  fish  that  were  hooked." 

87 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

Had  it  been  earlier  in  the  day  we  would  have  stood  in 
toward  the  rocks  to  behold  the  surf  which  rages  inces- 
santly against  the  weather-side.  But  it  was  too  late  ;  and 
even  as  we  looked  the  lofty  obelisks  began  to  fade  away, 
and  at  6.15  we  had  what  I  hope  will  not  be  our  last  look 
at  the  lonely  St.  Paul's  Rocks.  The  Atlantic  Ocean  near 
the  equator,  between  the  meridians  of  18°  and  23°,  is  sub- 
ject to  frequent  and  violent  earthquakes,  which  have  the 
effect  upon  a  vessel  like  that  of  being  dragged  over  a  reef, 
or  that  of  a  heavy  chain-cable  being  suddenly  run  out 
through  the  hawse-pipes. 

The  most  singular  fact  in  relation  to  the  component  parts 
of  sea-water  is  the  variation  in  the  proportion  of  salt  ;  for 
every  ton  of  Atlantic  water  evaporated  there  is  yielded 
eighty-one  pounds  of  salt ;  ditto  Pacific,  seventy-nine 
pounds  ;  ditto  Arctic,  eighty-five  ;  while  the  Dead  Sea 
heads  the  list  with  one  hundred  and  eighty-seven  pounds, 
though  I  have  never  seen  such  statistics  in  regard  to  our 
Great  Salt  Lake. 

Although  the  temperature  in  the  shade  to-day  was  very 
agreeable,  the  sun's  heat  was  terrific.  It  is  customary  to 
refer  to  a  **  baking  sun,"  but  I  should  call  that  of  to-day  a 
boihng  sun,  on  account  of  the  moisture  ;  and  it  is  strange 
that  on  a  day  like  this  the  sun's  rays  will  not  dry  out  a  wet 
towel,  though  exposed  to  them  for  several  hours  during  the 
hottest  part  of  the  day,  so  great  is  the  humidity.  Latitude, 
0°  49'  south  ;  longitude,  29°  53'  west. 

June  8 

These  are  fine  Trades,  though  the  squalls  are  severe 
and  sudden.  A  few  words  here,  in  passing,  as  to  squalls. 
What  landsmen  often  call  a  squall  sailors  call  a  puff,  such 
as  are  experienced  along  our  coasts  with  a  northwest  wind, 
lasting  a  few  seconds.      A  sailor's  squall  often  lasts  for 

88 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

thirty  minutes  and  is  accompanied  with  heavy  rain,  while 
it  can  be  observed  approaching  in  the  form  of  a  nimbus 
cloud  touching  the  ocean  a  long  while  before  it  reaches  the 
ship. 

In  this  twenty-four  hours  we  did  two  hundred  and  thir- 
teen knots,  an  average  of  more  than  nine  within  the  hour, 
while  in  many  of  the  squalls  we  must  have  been  going 
nearly  twelve.  How  many  yachts  are  there  which  can 
equal  this  on  a  bowline?  Ship-masters,  however,  cannot 
realize  how  fast  a  yacht  can  sail  with  a  light  wind  ;  they 
all  seem  to  think  that  a  yacht  sails  best  in  a  gale.  Cap- 
tain Kingdon  often  used  to  say  to  us  in  the  Southern 
Ocean,  when  we  were  doing  twelve  knots  before  a  fresh 
gale,  "Ah  !  this  is  where  I'd  like  to  see  an  able  yacht  ! 
Sixteen  knots,  eh?"  And  he  couldn't  understand  that 
under  those  conditions  a  smart  yacht  could  sail  but  little, 
if  any,  faster  than  we  were  doing.  But  what  is  even  more 
difficult  for  them  to  grasp  is  the  speed  of  a  racing  yacht  in 
what  they  call  a  light  air.  Sometimes  when  we  were  fan- 
ning along  at,  say,  five  knots,  I  used  to  worry  Captain  King- 
don by  telling  him  that  a  seventy-footer  would  run  him  out 
of  sight  in  that  breeze  in  a  few  hours.  He  refused  to  be- 
lieve that  any  yacht  could  make  nearly  ten  knots  while  the 
*  *  Mandalore' '  was  doing  perhaps  five. 

This  morning  we  had  a  heavy  sunrise  squall,  for  which 
we  had  to  let  go  the  royal  halliards,  the  sky-sails  having 
been  stowed  during  the  night.  But,  quick  as  the  men 
were,  the  wind  was  swifter  yet ;  for  before  the  clew-lines 
and  buntlines  could  be  manned  a  great  rent  vv^as  made  in 
the  mizzen-royal,  and  in  a  few  minutes  the  second  mate 
reported  that  the  upper  foretop-sail  was  in  the  same  condi- 
tion ;  both  were,  therefore,  unbent  and  lowered  as  such, 
while  a  brand  new  mizzen-royal  was  sent  up,  the  first  of  the 
strong  new  sails  which  will  be  bent  before  we  reach  the  bad 

89 


BY   WAY   OF    CAPE  HORN 

weather.  It  was  the  hardest  squall  which  we  have  had  yet, 
and  the  wind  and  rain  made  a  thunderous  noise  while  it 
lasted  ;  yet,  high  above  the  din,  could  be  heard  the  power- 
ful voice  of  Mr.  Rarx,  shouting  to  the  men  to  bear  a  hand 
with  the  mizzen-royal  clew-lines.  Though  there  were 
plenty  of  squalls  throughout  the  night,  the  sky  was  per- 
fectly clear  between  them,  and  thickly  studded  with  fine 
constellations,  while  the  moon  silvered  the  great  wool- 
packs  as  they  sailed  serenely  up  out  of  the  southeast. 
Quite  a  sea  had  made  by  eight  bells  this  morning,  in  which 
we  wallowed  a  good  deal,  but  lost  none  of  our  way.  Sea- 
birds  have  been  very  scarce  lately,  though  a  single  large 
frigate-bird  has  sailed  all  day  on  motionless  wing  in  wide 
circles  overhead. 

I  wonder  how  many  perfectly  w^ell  and  healthy  deep- 
water  captains  there  are  ?  This  sounds  absurd  at  first,  as  it  is 
the  general  opinion  that  sea-captains  are  always  thoroughly 
hearty  and  strong.  Of  course  some  of  them  are,  for  long- 
voyage  skippers  not  infrequently  live  to  a  very  advanced 
age,  proving  that  they  must  have  always  been  sound  men  ; 
yet  in  most  instances  it  will  be  found  that  they  suffer  from 
some  malady  brought  about  in  their  profession.  Perhaps 
the  most  common  is  liver  trouble  in  conjunction  with  dys- 
pepsia in  some  form.  Captain  Kingdon's  death,  it  will  be 
remembered,  was  caused  by  a  cancer  or  abscess  in  the 
liver.  Such  complaints  are  due  to  an  inactive  life  for 
months  at  a  stretch,  for  captains,  on  account  of  their  dig- 
nity, cannot  take  part  in  the  working  of  a  ship  or  in  pump- 
ing her  out,  so  that  walking  the  poop  must  constitute  all 
their  exercise.  Rheumatism,  produced  by  bad  food  and 
exposure,  divides  the  honors  with  the  liver,  while  from 
heart-disease  but  comparatively  few  long-voyage  captains 
are  free.  It  generally  develops  in  those  of  a  nervous  tem- 
perament, induced  by  worry  in  gales  and  dread  of  trouble 

90 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

with  the  crew  if  they  are  unruly,  besides  a  score  of  reasons 
only  understood  by  the  initiated.  Even  in  my  very  limited 
experience,  I  have  known  three  master-mariners  afflicted 
with  cardiac  disease.  One,  a  splendid  fellow,  Coalfleet, 
of  Hantsport,  Nova  Scotia,  died  in  his  bunk  in  the  North 
Atlantic  ;  another,  in  the  Ward  Line  service,  was  griev- 
ously stricken  in  Cuba,  and  had  to  retire  from  the  sea  ; 
while  the  third  suffered  from  dreadful  intermittent  attacks 
of  angina,  but  I  have  lost  track  of  him  for  several  years. 
Latitude,  3°  50'  south  ;  longitude,  31°  35'  west. 

June  9 

Late  yesterday  afternoon  Captain  Scruggs  came  up  and 
said  that  Fernando  de  Noronha  was  visible  to  leeward  from 
aloft,  and  that  if  we  looked  hard  enough  we  might  be  able 
to  see  it  from  the  deck.  So  we  gazed  long  and  earnestly 
over  to  the  westward,  and  there,  sure  enough,  arose  a  soft, 
rose-colored  cloud  through  the  mist  ;  and  in  another  half- 
hour  we  could  perceive  the  various  islands  which  constitute 
this  group,  together  with  the  lofty  pyramidal  rock  one 
thousand  feet  above  the  sea,  which  crowns  the  loftiest  of 
the  islands,  giving  it  a  peculiar  individuality,  so  that  it  is 
not  possible  to  mistake  this  cluster  for  any  other  known 
group.  We  were  near  enough  to  count  four  distinct 
islands,  the  largest  of  them  being  twenty  miles  in  circum- 
ference, and  we  could  just  make  out  the  tremendous  walls 
of  sheer,  unbroken  rock  falling  into  the  sea  ;  but  beyond 
this  it  was  not  given  us  to  penetrate  even  with  the  strongest 
glasses  on  board.  Would  that  we  had  been  fifteen  miles 
nearer,  that  we  might  have  compared  this  group  with 
Trinidad,  which  rears  its  desolate  summit  two  thousand  and 
twenty  feet  above  the  sea,  fifteen  degrees  farther  south. 
The  spectacle  of  the  surf  breaking  on  Fernando  de  No- 
ronha must  be  even  grander  than  on  St.  Paul's  Rocks; 

91 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

for,  lying  in  the  very  heart  of  the  strong  southeast  trade- 
wind,  the  full  force  of  the  mighty  South  Atlantic  surge 
dashes  ceaselessly  against  its  basaltic  walls. 

Last  evening  was  very  fine  indeed,  the  wind  having  let  go 
sufificiently  to  make  the  deck  agreeable  ;  and  as  the  moon 
shone  with  great  power,  it  was  a  night  of  remarkable 
beauty  even  for  the  Tropics,  although  some  ragged  scud 
which  blew  swiftly  across  the  moon  presaged  plenty  of 
wind  for  to-day.  The  indications  were  fulfilled,  for  it  has 
been  very  squally  since  early  this  morning  ;  all  the  royals 
came  in  at  eleven  o'clock,  and  we  have  been  plunging 
along  in  a  broken  sea,  through  savage  blasts  which  roar  in 
the  rigging  with  an  angry  voice.  The  most  unfortunate 
thing  is  that  the  wind  is  heading  us  by  hauling  to  the 
southward,  and  for  the  greater  part  of  the  past  twenty-four 
hours  we  have  been  steering  well  to  the  westward  of  south- 
west ;  so  that,  in  spite  of  our  weatherly  position  on  the  line, 
we  are  going  to  have  trouble  in  getting  past  that  portion  of 
Brazil  lying  to  the  southward  of  San  Roque.  Indeed,  at 
noon  we  were  only  seventy-five  miles  from  the  land,  a  little 
south  of  the  Great  Bugbear,  as  Maury  pertinently  styled 
the  famous  cape. 

For  dinner  to-day  we  had  canned  lobster,  which  came 
from  the  far-distant  Cape  of  Good  Hope ;  at  least,  the  skip- 
per called  them  lobsters,  but  the  mate  disgustedly  muttered 
*'  Crawfish."  This  sort  of  thing  the  skipper  cannot  stand, 
as  he  considers  it  a  crime  for  Mr.  Goggins  to  know  more 
than  he  does,  and  actually  resents  any  information  which 
the  mate  volunteers  at  table.  He  generally  doesn't  care 
to  exhibit  his  knowledge  in  the  skipper's  presence,  and  it 
is  hard  to  see  why  to-day  he  forgot  himself  in  so  unusual 
a  manner.  Yesterday,  for  instance,  I  remarked  what  a 
particularly  hot  day  it  was  for  the  Trades,  and  the  skipper 
promptly  denied  it  on  principle  until  furnished  with  ocular 

92 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE    HORN 

proof  by  thermometers,  while  the  mate  discreetly  observed, 
* '  I  feel  Hke  gettin'  out  me  warmer  coat. ' ' 

Mr.  Goggins  is  occupied  during  the  first  watch  every 
other  night  in  teaching  two  of  the  men  where  the  different 
ropes  lead  to  on  deck.  One  of  these  hapless  individuals  is 
Louis  Eckers,  who  doesn't  understand  much  English,  and 
the  other  is  John  Pettersen,  an  immensely  tall,  lean  Dane, 
who  lives  in  such  terror  of  the  mate  that  he  utterly  loses 
his  head  at  every  command.  He  is,  besides,  pitifully 
anxious  to  please,  and  his  awkwardness  is  really  remark- 
able. If  there  happens  to  be  a  rope  yarn  in  his  path  he  is 
sure  to  trip  on  it,  and  when  he  starts  to  move  in  obedience 
to  an  order,  he  first  stares  all  about  as  though  just  recover- 
ing consciousness,  and  then  suddenly  perceiving  that  the 
men  are  some  distance  of!  by  this  time,  he  laboriously  gets 
his  lank  frame  under  way  after  heavily  tripping  over  some 
object,  and,  with  elbows  squared  and  head  bent  low,  he 
charges  like  a  bull  across  the  deck.  Neither  of  these  men 
has  ever  been  aboard  of  a  square-rigger  before,  and  what 
little  sense  they  have  seems  to  vanish  when  anything 
is  to  be  done.  I'll  never  forget  John's  appearance  last 
night  as  he  clattered  heavily  forward  toward  the  forecastle 
when  the  mate  said  ferociously,  ' '  Show  me  the  spanker- 
sheet.  ' '  Poor  fellow  !  so  rattled  he  knew  not  whither  he 
was  going. 

Speaking  of  ropes  a  moment  ago  reminds  me  of  the 
largest  one  ever  made  in  England.  It  was  of  white  manila, 
weighed  five  tons,  and  was  twenty-two  inches  in  girth  with  a 
breaking  strain  of  eighteen  tons.  This  huge  rope  was  made 
a  short  time  ago  for  the  express  purpose  of  towing  a  float- 
ing dry-dock  from  the  Tyne  to  Havana,  which  itself  weighed 
six  thousand  tons.  Seventy  men  were  required  to  haul  in 
the  hawser  and  coil  it  away.  Latitude  6°  i8'  south  ;  longi- 
tude, 33°  58'  west. 

93 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

June  io 

Oh,  unhappy  day  !  Oh,  joyless  hour  !  We  could  not 
weather  South  America  after  all  !  Late  yesterday  afternoon 
when  I  had  plotted  the  run  off  on  our  own  chart,  I  sought 
the  skipper  and  said  to  him,  "Unless  my  chart  is  out,  we're 
not  more  than  forty  miles  oE  the  land."  "No,"  he  an- 
swered, quietly  ;  "we're  just  thirty  miles  from  the  beach, 
and  I'm  going  to  wear  ship  at  six."  How  bitter  was  his 
tone  as  he  said  this  !  Bitter  and  calm  with  despair,  for 
that  which  he  said  in  jest  three  weeks  ago  has  truly  come 
to  pass.  Far  back  in  the  North  Atlantic  one  morning,  when 
we  were  not  far  enough  to  the  eastward  for  that  latitude,  I 
asked  the  captain  if  he  weren't  generally  farther  east  than  we 
were  then.  But  he  made  light  of  it,  trusting  to  his  star  of 
luck,  as  he  jocosely  answered,  "  Oh,  well,  maybe  we'll  have 
a  chance  to  look  at  Brazil. ' '  Prophetic  utterance.  No  one 
knows  until  he  has  ' '  been  there' '  how  it  galls  a  skipper  to 
be  caught  here,  for  it  often  puts  two  or  three  weeks  on  the 
length  of  a  voyage.  At  any  rate,  when  six  o'  clock  came 
last  evening  we  wore  ship  to  a  running  and  complicated 
accompaniment  of  boisterous  profanity,  and  stood  away 
east  on  the  starboard  tack.  If  the  Trades  were  where  the 
general  average  shows  that  they  ought  to  be  at  this  season, 
east-southeast  instead  of  south-southeast  as  they  are,  we 
would  have  fetched  by  with  two  or  three  degrees  to  spare. 

The  breeze  was  pretty  strong  when  we  turned  in  last 
night,  and  gave  evidence  of  freshening  considerably  ;  but 
no  one  looked  for  any  such  wind  as  we  had  this  morning. 
We  were  awakened  by  the  loud  voice  of  Captain  Scruggs, 
* '  Haul  up  the  crojjick,  Mr.  Rarx, ' '  and  five  minutes  after- 
wards, '  *  Clew  up  the  t'  ga'  nt-s'  Is  fore  and  aft, ' '  while  a 
sudden  headlong  dive  showed  that  something  more  than  a 
strong  breeze  was  blowing.  Dressing  was  difficult,  and 
when  we  finally  emerged  from  the  companion-way,  behold 

94 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

the  ocean  almost  white  with  breaking  seas  and  a  moderate 
gale  whistling  from  south-southeast.  The  seas  were  short 
and  we  plunged  heavily  into  them  with  an  unpleasant  jerk  ; 
but  it  was  a  glorious  sight  to  watch  the  billows  as  they 
came  roaring  at  us,  deep  blue  in  the  hollows  and  crested 
with  hissing  froth.  We  hadn't  been  more  than  half  an 
hour  on  deck  when  the  captain  sung  out,  ' '  Haul  down  the 
maintop-mast  stay-sail  and  clew  up  the  main-sail,"  which 
meant  that  we  were  going  to  wear  again  and  stand  in 
shore.  We  were  nearly  in  the  wind  on  the  other  tack,  and 
the  second  mate  had  just  roared  out,  **  Head-yards  now," 
when  crash  !  a  tall  sea  fell  over  the  weather  side  and  full 
upon  the  wee  Chinese  cook,  the  meekest,  jolliest  little  fellow 
imaginable.  He  was  standing  outside  of  the  galley  door 
when  that  sea  claimed  him.  It  slammed  him  first  against 
the  main  hatch  ;  washed  him  back  into  the  scuppers  ;  then 
aft  nearly  to  the  cabin  bulkhead,  and  finally  sat  him  fiercely 
down  by  the  pumps,  during  which  evolutions  the  frail  little 
fellow  could  be  perceived  shooting  about  in  the  surging 
waters,  his  long,  black,  thin  pig-tail  curling  and  writhing 
several  feet  behind  him.  After  the  water  had  partly 
run  ofE,  half  burying  the  men  on  the  lee  foresheet,  our 
little  Chinaman  lay  very  still,  and  we  feared  that  he  was 
badly  hurt,  though  the  men  were  roaring  with  laughter, 

while   the   skipper  thundered    ''Why  in  h don't  yer 

pick  him  up  ?"  to  the  mates,  who  stood  as  though  petrified, 
gazing  at  a  cask  of  sea-water  bearing  down  on  the  cook 
which  would  have  flattened  him  like  one  of  his  own  pan- 
cakes. All  at  once  he  came  to,  however,  saw  the  bar- 
rel almost  on  him,  and  skilfully  rolled  out  of  the  way  of  it, 
escaping  with  some  painful  bruises  on  his  arms. 

This  was  the  only  sea  that  boarded  us,  and  we  were  soon 
straightened  out  on  the  old  port  tack,  steering  southwest, 
and  doing  scarcely  four  knots,  for  we  were  under  short  can- 

95 


BY   WAY    OF   CAPE   HORN 

vas  and  the  seas  pounded  us  back,  and  even  now  we  will 
hardly  go  free  of  the  land  ;  for  in  spite  of  our  twelve 
hours  of  easting  during  the  night,  a  powerful  northwest 
current  has  set  us  back  to  such  an  extent  that  our  noon 
sight  showed  us  that  we  were  only  ten  miles  farther  off- 
shore than  at  the  corresponding  hour  yesterday,  and  that 
we  had  made  only  thirty  miles  of  southing.  If  the  wind 
shifts  only  a  point,  though,  we  might  be  able  to  weather 
the  land  after  all. 

Last  night  the  mate  and  I  had  a  conversation  about  fast 
passages,  and  he  said  to  me,  * '  I  can  tell  yer,  there  was 
plenty  of  smart  ships  thirty  or  forty  years  ago  that  yer 
never  hear  tell  of  nowadays.  There's  the  Boston  ship 
'Siren,'  as  I  was  mate  of  ;  we  were  comin'  around  from 
Coquimbo,  bound  to  Liverpool,  when  we  were  caught  in  a 
pampero  of?  the  river  Plate.  It  come  in  a  squall  as  usual, 
and  the  fust  thing  I  know,  there  was  the  fore-  and  main- 
t' -gallant-masts  over  the  side.  We  didn't  have  no  spare 
spars  aboard,  but,  in  spite  of  that,  we  went  from  3°  south 
right  into  Liverpool  in  nineteen  days.  Pretty  good  for  a 
lame  duck,  and  considering  the  Doldrums,  too. 

* '  Then  there  was  a  smart  passage  I  heered  tell  of  the 
other  day  about  a  modern  ship,  the  British  ship  *  King 
George' ;  she  went  from  Cape  Town  up  to  the  Delaware 
Capes  in  forty-seven  days." 

This  last  was  really  a  fine  performance,  for  the  distance 
which  she  covered  was  six  thousand  eight  hundred  miles. 
Compare  this  passage  with  the  voyages  of  sailing  vessels 
to  the  westward  across  the  North  Atlantic  in  winter. 
They  are  nearly  always  fifty  days  coming  across,  and  not 
infrequently  seventy,  or  nearly  a  month  longer  than  the 
' '  King  George' '  was  from  South  Africa,  while  the  distance 
is  less  than  half. 

In  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  trade  there  is  a  wonderfully  fast 

96 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

little  fore-and-aft  schooner  called  the  "  Margaret  S.  Smith," 
of  Portland,  Maine.  This  vessel  ran  on  one  occasion  from 
Ruatan,  Honduras,  to  Mobile  in  seventy-two  hours,  which 
was  an  hourly  average  of  twelve  and  one- half  knots  ;  and 
considering  that  the  net  tonnage  of  this  schooner  is  only 
one  hundred  and  twelve,  her  performance  must  be  regarded 
as  almost  phenomenal.  There  are  not  very  many  large 
sailing  ships  in  these  days  which  can  show  a  record  of 
three  hundred  miles  per  diem  for  three  consecutive  days  ; 
yet  the  '  *  Smith' '  is  doubtless  less  than  one  hundred  feet 
long. 

The  other  day  I  managed  to  get  a  large  dollop  of  slush 
on  a  pair  of  thick  trousers,  and  I  asked  the  skipper  if 
Sammie,  the  boy,  couldn't  get  it  out,  thinking  that  he  could 
do  so  with  some  soap  and  a  little  w^arm  water.  But  lo  ! 
fifteen  minutes  later  I  saw  my  trousers  soaking  away  in  a 
tub  of  water  like  a  pair  of  dungaree  breeches  !  This,  as  I 
observed  before,  is  the  way  with  seafaring  people  :  when- 
ever there  is  aught  amiss  with  a  garment,  pop  it  goes  into 
the  wash-tub.  Latitude,  6°  49'  south  ;  longitude,  33°  48' 
west. 

June  ii 

"All  hands  wear  ship  ;  all  hands  'bout  ship."  These 
are  the  cries  which  ring  constantly  through  the  vessel  now. 
Woful  to  tell,  the  Trades  are  still  from  the  south-south- 
east, though  the  captain  in  some  way  has  contrived  to 
control  his  temper  to  a  wonderful  degree  ;  such  unlooked- 
for  and  devilish  a  performance  of  the  Trades  is  enough  to 
finally  ruin  any  skipper's  chances  of  entrance  into  Heaven's 
Gate,  or  the  Golden  Gate  either. 

Last  evening  at  five  o'  clock  we  descried  the  land  from 
aloft  on  the  lee  or  starboard  bow,  and  after  supper  it  was 
very  plain  from  the  deck,  so  that  at  six  we  tacked  and 
7  97 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

stood  off  shore  again.  At  that  time  the  sun  had  just  sank 
behind  the  sandy  wastes  of  the  BraziHan  coast,  casting  a 
deep  crimson  Hght  over  the  sea  ;  while  dead  ahead,  at  the 
extremity  of  a  profound  curve  in  the  coast-hne,  Point 
Pedras  rose  out  of  the  ocean  in  a  low  headland,  with  a 
tremendous  mass  of  gloomy  cloud  above  it,  lending  to 
that  part  of  the  scene  a  sombre  and  awful  aspect.  Though 
the  land  did  not  show  up  sufficiently  well  to  allow  us  to 
perceive  any  of  its  characteristics,  it  was  plain  enough  to 
permit  us  to  say  that  we  distinctly  saw  the  shore-Hne  of  this 
vast  and  torrid  land.  Point  Pedras,  it  might  be  well  to 
state,  is  not  only  the  easternmost  point  of  Brazil,  but  of  the 
entire  Western  Hemisphere,  being  forty-five  miles  farther 
east  than  Cape  San  Roque. 

This  afternoon  we  perceived  a  disturbance  at  the  end  of 
the  fishing-line  which  is  always  towing  astern,  and  it  was 
presently  seen  that  we  had  hooked  a  fine  specimen  of  the 
sailor's  dolphin,  the  most  beautiful  in  coloring  of  all  deep- 
water  fish.  I  think  that  it  might  be  as  well  to  apply  the 
name  dolphin  to  this  fish  from  now  forward,  if  there 
should  be  occasion  to  mention  one  again.  Of  course  it 
isn't  a  dolphin  at  all,  but  as  sailors  call  it  so,  and  this  is 
supposed  to  be  a  book  about  sailors,  this  name  is  as  good 
as  any  other. 

Carefully  we  coaxed  him  up  beneath  the  counter  and 
then  tried  to  kill  him  by  holding  his  mouth  out  of  water, 
for  he  would  have  parted  the  line  if  we  had  attempted  to 
haul  him  aboard.  As  he  sheared  about  on  the  end  of  the 
line  he  presented  a  spectacle  which  was  actually  gorgeous, 
and,  being  immediately  above  him,  our  view  was  perfect. 
His  motions  were  the  very  ideal  of  grace,  and  as  he  moved 
swiftly  from  side  to  side  he  exhibited  in  succession  all  of 
his  wonderful  hues,  vivid  greens  and  yellows  merging  into 
silver  and  Prussian  blue.     His  antics  were  cut  short,  how- 

98 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

ever,  by  the  arrival  of  the  mate  with  the  grains,  which  he 
skilfully  drove  into  the  creature's  side  (what  a  useless 
slaughter  !),  and  he  was  hauled  up  over  the  stern.  Then  we 
stood  by  for  the  dying  colors.  Out  upon  them  !  Not  for 
a  single  instant  can  they  compare  with  those  of  the  fish  in 
his  natural  condition,  when,  darting  about  a  fathom  or  so 
beneath  the  surface,  he  positively  enchants  the  eye  with  his 
brilliancy.  He  will  yield  us  fresh  food  for  supper,  such  as 
it  is  ;  but  all  deep-sea  fish  are  poor  and  dry,  save  one,  the 
flying-fish,  which,  if  served  in  a  restaurant  with  tartare 
sauce,  I'm  sure  could  not  be  detected  from  a  smelt. 

One  often  hears  the  discussion  in  shipping  and  yachting 
circles  as  to  the  seaworthiness  of  fore-and-aft  schooners  in 
comparison  with  square-riggers  for  deep-water  work,  and 
the  question  is  often  raised,  "  Which  would  make  the  faster 
passage  to  San  Francisco  from  New  York,  the  ship  or  the 
schooner  ?' '  Naturally  there  are  points  in  favor  of  each  ; 
the  advantage  lying  with  the  ship  when  off  the  wind  in 
strong  breezes,  and  with  the  schooner  when  by  the  wind. 
In  the  case  of  a  voyage  to,  say,  Hong-Kong,  in  the  south- 
west monsoons,  the  ship  would  probably  arrive  at  her  des- 
tination ahead  of  the  other,  as  there  would  be  five  thou- 
sand miles  of  hard  westerly  (fair)  winds  in  the  Southern 
Ocean,  and  another  long  stretch  of  free  wind  from  the 
Straits  of  Sunda  to  Hong-Kong.  On  the  other  hand,  in  a 
westerly  passage  of  Cape  Horn,  in  which  the  vessel  would 
be  probably  close-hauled  for  two  or  three  weeks  in  the 
Southern  Ocean,  or  perhaps  more  than  a  month,  the 
schooner  would  have  an  immense  advantage  in  being  able 
to  lie  at  least  two  points  closer  than  the  ship,  if  the  wind 
allowed  her  to  carry  enough  sail  to  go  ahead.  The  wind  is 
generally  too  heavy  in  the  vicinity  of  Cape  Horn,  though, 
to  allow  a  small  vessel  to  show  much  canvas  when  close- 
hauled,  and  the  passages  of  four  schooners  to  San  Fran- 

99 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

cisco  found  below  indicate  that  in  reality  there  is  not  much 
difference  between  the  voyages  of  these  schooners  and  the 
average  of  square- riggers.  They  were  all  Gloucester 
fishermen,  and  were  sent  out  by  Mr.  Horatio  Babson,  of 
Boston,  loaded  with  fishing  supplies,  rosin,  pork,  and  hard- 
ware, between  1868  and  1873. 

Tons.  Days. 

"Urania"      92  125 

"Varuna" 92  131 

"  Laura  M.  Mangam" 85  131 

"Reunion" 90  148 

The  average  of  these  vessels  was  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
four  days,  as  against  one  hundred  and  forty-five  for  square- 
riggers  ;  so  that  whatever  advantage  they  may  have  gained 
off  Cape  Horn  and  in  the  northeast  Trades  in  the  Pacific, 
they,  doubtless,  lost  in  the  long  stretches  of  southeast  Trades 
on  both  sides  of  the  continent.  It  must  also  be  added  that 
all  the  schooners  sailed  during  the  month  of  November,  so  as 
to  reach  Cape  Horn  in  the  middle  of  the  southern  summer. 
This  fact  seems  to  me  to  be  a  good  answer  to  those  ship- 
masters who  are  wont  to  assert  that  they  would  rather 
double  Cape  Horn  in  July  than  in  January, — i.e.^  in  winter 
than  in  summer, — saying  that  the  gales  are  harder  in  the 
latter  month  than  in  June  and  July.  But  the  fact  that 
November  was  chosen  for  the  schooners  by  a  man  who  was 
no  doubt  familiar  with  the  Southern  Ocean  would  indicate 
that  the  weather  there  is  better  in  January. 

To-day  Mr.  Rarx  told  me  of  a  novel  and  very  successful 
way  of  manning  a  vessel  with  what  is  known  as  a  checker- 
board crew.  Two  forecastles  are  necessary,  or  one  with  a 
dividing  bulkhead,  all  the  men  of  one  watch  being  white 
and  the  others  black.  If  they  were  together  in  one  fore- 
castle, violent  hostilities  would  continuously  prevail  ;  but  if 
separated,  they  will  work  against  and  try  to  outdo  each 

100 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

other  ;  so  that,  with  a  little  judicious  flattery  or  word  of 
encouragement,  such  work  as  the  making  and  shortening 
of  sail,  tacking  and  wearing,  will  be  done  with  incredible 
alacrity.  All-negro  crews  are  held  in  esteem  by  some 
long- voyage  skippers,  but  the  men  are  said  to  be  very  un- 
ruly at  sea,  though  fearless  sailors  ;  while  the  singing  on 
board  of  a  ship  manned  by  darkies,  both  chanties  and 
otherwise,  is  said  to  be  wonderfully  good.  Latitude,  7°  35' 
south  ;  longitude,  34°  20'  west. 

June  12 

No  abatement  of  the  southerly  wind.  We  thought  this 
morning  that  the  breeze  was  certainly  going  to  haul  to  the 
eastward  ;  but  the  wind,  though  strong  enough,  yet  hangs 
in  the  south-southeast,  and  we  are,  therefore,  still  hammer- 
ing away  at  it,  tacking  or  wearing  four  times  in  each  twenty- 
four  hours,  so  that  in  four  days  we  have  made  only  ninety- 
eight  miles  of  southing,  a  rate  of  nearly  exactly  a  mile  an 
hour.  Apropos  of  which  Rumps  made  quite  an  original  re- 
mark last  evening.  For  the  full  comprehension  of  the  obser- 
vation it  must  be  explained  that  if  there  is  much  wind  and 
sea  a  ship  will  not  make  better  than  a  seven-point  course, — 
that  is,  with  the  wind  at  south  she  will  do  about  west  by 
south,  or  almost  at  a  right  angle.  So  the  bosun  remarked, 
' '  Well,  here  we  are,  walking  up  and  down  the  avenue, 
eh?"      It  described  what  we  were  doing  perfectly. 

This  morning,  while  on  the  starboard  tack,  the  skipper, 
who  has  now  lost  every  vestige  of  the  patience  which  he 
formerly  exhibited,  thought  that  at  last  the  wind  was  going 
to  shift  to  southeast  at  least,  so  he  sung  out  to  wear  round  ; 
but  when  we  were  snugged  down  on  the  port  tack,  we  fell 
off  to  southwest  half  west,  exactly  as  before.  It  seemed 
impossible  that  a  human  being  could  have  shown  such 
boundless  rage  as  the  captain  did  then.     We  could  hear  him 

loi 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

muttering  away  at  the  farther  side  of  the  poop,  ' '  What' s  the 
use  ?  No  sort  of  use  ;  no  sort  of  use  at  all. ' '  And  then,  in 
a  frenzy  of  sudden  wrath,  he  stamped  lustily  upon  the  deck 
and  swore  like  the  mouth  of  the  pit,  his  wiry  whiskers 
bristling  as  though  electrified,  as  he  fiercely  wagged  his 
head  ;  for  he  wot  not  that  we  were  hard  by.  Then  his 
eye  wandered  to  the  main-deck,  and  down  the  weather 
poop-ladder  he  clattered,  looking  for  trouble,  for  we  could 
hear  him  growling  and  mumbling  at  the  galley  door. 

In  rough  weather,  instead  of  ordinary  teacups  we  have 
large,  flat,  china  utensils,  which  look  like  shaving-mugs,  so 
that  at  first  I  seemed  to  miss  the  brush.  The  mate,  think- 
ing to  have  another  go  at  merrie  England,  cried,  triumph- 
antly, ''I'll  bet  you  had  nothin'  like  them  on  the  '  Manda- 
lore.'  "  But  we  quite  shocked  him  with  the  information 
that  on  that  good  ship  we  were  furnished  not  only  with 
these  useful  pieces  of  crockery,  but  with  some  which  held 
an  imperial  quart,  from  which  we  drank  our  soup  in  heavy 
weather  as  from  Brobdingnagian  teacups.  Perhaps  Mr. 
Goggins  was  never  so  absurd  as  to-day  after  dinner,  when 
he  confidentially  called  to  me  and  said,  ' '  Say,  did  yer  hear 
the  cap'n  say  '  pressperation'  instead  of  'perspiration'  just 
now  ?  There  ain't  no  such  a  word,  yer  know";  this  with 
an  urbanity  which  would  have  floored  a  Chinaman. 

Mr.  Rarx,  too,  sometimes  favors  us  with  some  obser- 
vations entirely  sui  generis,  and  particularly  droll  in  that 
he  has  a  well-inflated  opinion  of  his  own  choice  of  English. 
He  was  telling  of  a  painful  accident  which  happened  to  him 
several  years  ago,  in  which  his  back  was  wrenched  ;  ' '  and, 
sir,"  he  concluded,  "I  didn't  know  what  to  do  ;  I  couldn't 
stand,  and  I  couldn't  lay,  and  I  couldn't  set."  We  won- 
dered whether  he  were  possessed  of  any  sort  of  ornitho- 
logical accomplishments. 

In  windy  weather  wearing  stirs  up  a  lively  scene.     This 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

is  how  it  is  done  on  the  * '  Higgins' '  :  The  skipper  is  pacing 
athwartships,  undecided  whether  to  hold  on  any  longer  or 
not  ;  then  suddenly  he  stops,  walks  to  the  break  of  the 
poop,  and  says  quietly  to  the  mate,  *  *  See  the  braces  clear 
for  running,  Mr.  Goggins."  In  five  minutes  or  so  the  mate 
catches  the  captain's  eye,  and  asks,  **  Are  you  ready,  sir  ?" 

"Am  I  ready,  sir!"  repeats  the  latter,  who  will  have 
nothing  suggested  to  him;  "most  certainly  I  am  not 
ready  ;  don' t  you  see  that  squall  to  windward  ?' ' 

The  mate  withers  ;  and  when  it  has  passed  the  idea  of 
having  to  break  tacks  again  seems  to  have  festered  in  the 
skipper's  mind,  for  he  suddenly  snaps  out,  "All  hands 
wear  ship,"  like  a  bunch  of  fire-crackers  going  off.  "  All 
h-a-n-d-s  wear  ship"  roar  the  mates,  running  forward  to 
rouse  out  the  men,  and  aft  they  tumble  and  take  up  their 
positions  at  the  various  ropes.  Then  the  skipper  begins 
his  harangue  with  voice  of  thunder  and  wind-mill  arms  : 
"  Haul  away  on  your  main  and  crojjick  buntlines  and  clew- 
garnets  ;  square  the  crojjick-yard  ;  you  at  the  wheel,  hard 
up  yer  helium.  Weather  main-braces  now  ;  haul  away, 
you  blasted  old  women  ;  come  in  on  those  tops' 1-braces. 
Head-yards  now  ;  let  go  the  foretack  ;  foresheet  now,  all 
hands  ;  forebraces  ;  steady  your  wheel. ' '  The  ship  by 
this  time  has  fallen  of!  dead  before  the  wind,  and  the  old 
man  is  in  the  zenith  of  his  passion,  whirling  back  and  forth 
across  the  poop,  belching  perfect  volcanoes  of  profanity. 
'  *  Main-braces  again  now  ;  overhaul  those  spilling-lines  and 
that    main    lee    inner   buntline  ;   again    your  main-braces  ; 

crojjick-tack, it  ;  look  alive  there  and  get  that 

main-sheet  aft  ;  lead  it  to  the  capstan  ;  heave  ;  in  she  comes, 
that's  well.  Main  and  crojjick  bowlines  now  ;  that's  the 
style.  Haul  taut  the  weather-braces  fore  and  aft,  and  clear 
up  the  decks." 

This    oration    is    delivered    in  a  hurricane  voice   to   an 

103 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

accompaniment  of  roaring  wind  and  flying  spray,  which 
sometimes  enshrouds  the  whole  forecastle  like  a  snow- 
squall  ;  and  the  mates  whiz  about,  driving  the  men  before 
them,  and  they  in  turn  rend  the  air  with  their  cries  as  they 
come  in  on  the  braces.  Each  man  seems  to  have  an  indi- 
vidual ejaculation  when  hauling  away,  only  one  man,  of 
course,  singing  out  at  each  rope  ;  but  as  there  are  often 
half  a  dozen  knots  of  men  at  work,  there  are  as  many 
strange  yells.  Louis,  the  Frenchman,  says,  ''Ho-ho-ho- 
ho-ho-ho-ho,"  beginning  very  deep  and  ending  in  a  fal- 
setto ;  Broadhead,  one  of  the  youngest  and  smartest 
seamen  in  the  ship,  eases  his  mind  with  "  Hoo-oop,  come 
in  with  her  ;  oh,  fiddle-strings  ;  oh,  split  the  wind";  Olaf- 
sen  cries,  ' '  Ha-joop,  ha-joop' ' ;  while  Timothy  Powers,  the 
wild,  carrot-topped  Irishman,  screams,  ' '  Yah  ha-a-a-a,  yah 
ha-a-a-a,"  like  a  freight  train  with  the  brakes  on. 

Best  of  all,  though,  are  the  chanties  ;  and  as  the  men 
know  each  other  well  by  this  time,  there  are  plenty  of 
them  ;  and  good  old  songs  they  are,  songs  of  the  days  of 
'49,  into  which  the  men  throw  heart  and  soul.  Some  of 
the  best  ones  for  hauling  are,  "  Blow,  my  Bully  Boys, 
Blow,"  "A  Long  Time  Ago,"  and  "  A  Poor  Old  Man," 
which  latter  two  I  believe  that  I  mentioned  before  ;  while 
some  of  the  melodies  sung  to  pumping  ship  are  even 
better.  One  is  "  The  Plains  of  Mexico,"  entirely  in  the 
minor,  with  a  weird  effect  ;  another,  ' '  The  Banks  of  the 
Sacramento,"  each  verse  of  which  ends, — 


"  For  there's  plenty  of  gold, 
So  I  am  told, 

On  the  banks  of  the  Sacramento." 

Still  another,  *'  The  Girls  of  Dublin  Town,"  is  sung  to  the 
Southern  tune  of  the  ' '  Bonnie  Blue  Flag, ' '  the  final  words 
of  each  stanza  being, — 

104 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

"  Then  it's  hurrah,  hurrah, 
For  the  girls  of  Dubberhn  town  ; 
Hurrah  for  the  bonnie  green  flag, 
And  the  harp  without  a  crown." 

"John  Brown's  Whiskey- Bottle's  Empty  on  the  Shelf" 
and  ' '  Give  a  Man  Time  to  Roll  a  Man  Down' '  are  too  well 
known  to  need  comment.  It  is  a  fine  sight  to  see  eight 
muscular  fellows  at  the  pump-handles  in  the  dusk  of  the 
evening,  their  broad  backs  standing  forth  against  the  dark 
recesses,  rising  and  falling  as  they  sing  their  favorite  chor- 
uses, MacFoy  of  the  port  watch  and  Murphy  of  the  star- 
board always  supplying  the  solo  parts.  Latitude,  7°  56' 
south  ;  longitude,  30°  4'  west. 

June  13 

Worse  and  worse  !  The  wind  Is  more  ahead  than  ever, 
and  in  the  last  twenty-four  hours  we  made  six  thousand 
and  eighty  feet  of  southing,  or  precisely  one  sea-mile. 
Between  yesterday  noon  and  six  in  the  evening  we  did 
make  a  few  miles  of  latitude,  for  we  tacked  ship  at  the 
latter  hour  close  to  Cape  St.  Agostlnho  in  8°  40'  south  ; 
but  after  standing  over  on  the  starboard  tack  till  one 
o'clock  to-day,  we  went  back  again  to  the  northward,  and 
at  mid-day  the  sun  told  us  that  we  had  made  only  one  mile 
of  latitude  to  the  good.  I  thought  that  the  captain  in- 
tended to  stand  off  shore  this  time  for  at  least  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  miles  ;  but  when  both  watches  had  dined  at 
one  o'clock,  we  wore  round  again  and  once  more  stood  in 
for  the  beach.  What  a  pity  it  is  that  we  can't  make  better 
use  of  this  magnificent  breeze,  which  is  too  strong  for  even 
a  main-royal  !  Free,  eleven  knots  would  be  our  speed 
now,  instead  of  which  we  go  diving  hard  into  it  jammed 
on  the  wind,  pegging  along  at  never  more  than  six  knots, 
four  points  off  our  course  on  the  most  favorable  tack, 

105 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

Last  evening  we  were  presented  with  a  most  exquisite 
panorama  of  the  Brazilian  coast.  At  noon  we  were  imme- 
diately east  of  Pernambuco,  about  thirty-five  miles  off 
shore  ;  and,  continuing  on  our  southwesterly  course,  we 
brought  the  land  aboard  twenty-five  miles  south  of  that 
city  at  five  o'clock.  All  that  we  could  make  out  of  the 
shore  at  that  time  was  that  it  consisted  of  a  succession  of 
lofty  hills  ;  and  it  was  not  until  we  came  up  from  supper  at 
six  o'  clock  that  we  saw  the  land  distinctly  enough  to  ap- 
preciate aught  of  its  beauty,  lying  as  it  did  at  that  hour 
broad  on  the  starboard  beam  and  ahead.  On  the  quarter 
appeared  dimly  the  snow-white  angular  walls  of  a  little 
town  lying  snugly  on  an  arm  of  the  sea,  glowing  warm 
and  mellow  in  the  rich  light  ;  while  by  the  aid  of  glasses 
we  perceived,  shrouded  in  the  mists  of  a  thundering  surf, 
broad  stretches  of  coral  sand  fringed  at  high-water  mark 
with  clusters  of  palmettos  and  cabbage-palms  ;  back  of 
these,  dancing  and  shimmering  in  heat-waves,  rolled  the 
sand-dunes  ;  and  then  came  the  series  of  lovely  hills  rising 
tier  on  tier  into  the  interior,  rich  in  that  wonderfully  luxu- 
riant vegetation  that  clothes  the  surface  of  equatorial  Brazil, 
with  the  veils  of  night  mist  just  beginning  to  form  in  the 
valleys  and  deep  ravines.  The  whole  of  this  fascinating 
scene  lay  steeped  in  the  after-glow  of  a  superb  sunset, 
which  touched  everything  with  a  reddish-golden  tinge  to 
be  observed  only  in  the  tropics. 

Lying  almost  entirely  within  the  torrid  zone,  the  climate 
of  Brazil  is  naturally  a  very  hot  one,  and  is  also  extremely 
humid,  the  rainfall  for  the  year  at  Maranhao  amounting  to 
the  enormous  total  of  t\vo  hundred  and  eighty  inches,  or 
seven  times  greater  than  that  of  New  York.  Such  an  ex- 
cess of  moisture  has  a  corresponding  effect  upon  its  plant 
life,  and  has  given  Brazil  a  wealth  of  vegetation  not  excelled 
by  any  country  of  the  world.     Travellers  assert  that  it  is 

1 06 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

utterly  beyond  description,  and  that  in  the  ravines  and 
passes  near  the  coast,  where  the  humidity  is  intense,  it  de- 
fies man's  utmost  efforts  at  restraint.  Even  as  far  south  as 
Rio,  trees  spHt  for  palings  send  forth  shoots  and  branches 
immediately  ;  and  on  the  banks  of  the  Amazon,  the  level 
of  which  mighty  stream  is  yearly  raised  forty  feet  by  the 
immense  rainfall,  the  loftiest  trees  destroy  each  other  by 
their  proximity,  and  are  literally  bound  together  by  rich 
vines  and  lianes.  In  the  province  of  Maranhao,  the  grasses, 
roots,  and  other  plants  extending  from  the  brinks  of  pools  in 
time  weave  themselves  into  vegetable  bridges,  along  which 
the  traveller  wends  his  way,  unaware  that  he  has  left  terra 
firma  until  he  perceives  the  scaly  jaws  of  an  alligator  pro- 
truding through  the  herbage  before  him.  On  all  sides  the 
vegetation  is  bewildering,  and  every  representative  of  plant 
life  is  of  a  gigantic  size. 

But  to  return  to  ourselves.  Happening  to  glance  ahead 
a  little  later  we  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  great  light-house 
on  the  extremity  of  Cape  St.  Agostinho  just  as  its  beacon 
flashed  over  the  sea,  sending  its  brilliant  needles  of  light  far 
out  over  the  moon-lit  ocean.  Just  at  dusk  a  large  coasting 
steamer  came  unexpectedly  out  from  under  the  hills,  in 
whose  stern  waved  the  green-and-gold  flag  of  Brazil  ;  and, 
heading  south  across  the  wide  wake  of  the  moon,  suddenly 
vanished  in  the  gloom  beyond  the  sombre  headland.  The 
light  on  Cape  St.  Agostinho,  by  the  way,  can  compare 
favorably  with  our  most  powerful  ones,  for  its  rays  are 
visible  twenty-five  miles  at  sea  ;  the  tower  being  in  the 
form  of  a  white  iron  tripod  one  hundred  and  sixty  feet 
high,  whose  apex  is  three  hundred  and  sixty  feet  above 
the  ocean.  Indeed,  on  the  whole  of  the  South  American 
seaboard,  from  the  Guianas  to  Cape  Horn,  there  is  only 
one  other  light  which  equals  it,  and  that  is  on  Cape  Frio, 
just  to  the  eastward  of  Rio  Janeiro. 

107 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

Speaking  of  Cape  Horn,  I  wonder  when  we'  re  going  to 
see  that  famous  rock  ?  At  this  present  rate  we  would  be 
several  months  in  beating  down  the  coast ;  if  we  were  only 
as  far  south  now  as  the  Abrolhos  Islands,  we  could  begin 
to  keep  off  a  little,  that  being  about  the  first  point  at  which 
ships  bound  to  the  westward  begin  to  think  of  bearing 
away.  The  old  mate  told  us  the  other  day  that  coming  to 
the  eastward  towards  New  York  this  last  time,  they  unbent 
the  foresail  and  made  some  repairs  to  it  on  the  main-deck 
with  Cape  Horn  in  sight  !  This  means  that  there  was  not 
enough  sea  there  at  the  time  to  wet  the  decks,  for  a  sail  is 
never  stretched  there  if  there  is  any  probability  of  water 
coming  aboard. 

The  sea  has  now  returned  to  its  usual  Prussian  blue,  for, 
being  on  soundings  yesterday  afternoon,  it  changed  to  a 
most  beautiful,  pale,  transparent  green,  owing  to  the  white, 
sandy  bottom  over  which  we  sailed,  only  twenty  fathoms 
away  ;  our  least  distance  from  the  land  having  been  about 
eight  miles.   Latitude,  7°  57'  south  ;  longitude,  32°  47'  west. 

June  14 

Though  the  Trades  are  still  from  the  south-southeast, 
we  have  done  very  well,  as  an  ofiing  of  one  hundred  and 
thirty  miles  has  enabled  us  to  hold  on  to  the  port  tack  all 
day  ;  and  as  the  coast-line  south  of  Maceio  trends  slightly 
to  the  westward,  we  may  be  able  to  go  free  of  the  land 
until  we  reach  the  Abrolhoses,  for  which  it  will  no  doubt 
be  necessary  for  us  to  make  a  slight  hitch.  We  were 
more  than  seven  days  in  making  nine  degrees  of  latitude  ; 
for,  a  week  ago  last  night,  we  passed  the  St.  Paul's  Rocks 
fifty-five  miles  north  of  the  line,  and  yesterday  we  had 
not  quite  reached  the  eighth  parallel.  Can  the  reader 
duplicate  this  tortoise-like  progression  in  the  southeast 
trade-wind  ?     It  is  more  like  the  Doldrums  in  spite  of  a 

108 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

spanking  breeze.  Sometimes  when  there  is  a  lull  in  the 
wind  the  deep  voice  of  Captain  Scruggs  will  be  heard, 
"  Loose  the  main-royal"  ;  but  five  minutes  later  will  come 
the  order,  "  Let  go  the  main-royal-halliards  ;  and  you  can 
put  the  gaskets  on,  Mr.  Rarx,  we  won't  want  it  any  more." 
This  word  ' '  loose' '  is  almost  invariably  used  at  sea,  and 
you  never  hear  ''Set  the  mizzen-t'-gallant-s'l"  or  "Hoist 
the  fore-sky-s'  1' ' ;    they  are  always  ' '  loosed. ' ' 

At  dinner  to-day  the  skipper  said,  "I'll  bet  they've 
been  having  trouble  off  the  river  Plate  lately."  "Why?" 
said  L  "Don't  you  see  this  swell  a-heavin'  up?"  he 
replied  ;  *  *  they'  ve  been  having  a  southerly  buster  down 
there."  Now,  that  portion  of  the  South  Atlantic  in  the 
vicinity  of  that  vast  estuary,  the  Rio  de  la  Plata,  is  subject 
to  terrific  gales  of  wind  known  as  pamperos,  because  they 
blow  off  the  pampas  or  plains  of  the  Argentine  ;  but  the 
skipper,  having  lived  long  on  the  coast  of  Australia,  where 
the  hardest  gales  are  called  southerly  busters,  usually  gives 
that  name  to  the  pampero. 

The  Rio  de  la  Plata  should  never  be  called  the  Plat  River, 
pronouncing  it  as  we  do  the  Platte  River  in  Nebraska  ; 
if  the  English  form  is  used  at  all,  it  should  be  called 
Plate,  which  is  so  universal  that  one  of  the  largest, if  not  the 
largest,  shipping-houses  doing  business  in  South  America  is 
known  as  the  Brazil  and  River  Plate  Steamship  Company. 

A  rather  singular  fact  in  connection  with  the  skipper  is 
that  he  has  never  been  to  any  one  of  the  three  largest  and 
most  important  ports  between  Cancer  and  Capricorn, — 
Calcutta,  Bombay,  or  Rio  Janeiro.  This  is  really  astonish- 
ing, as  it  would  be  hard  indeed  to  find  another  American 
sailor  brought  up  in  the  last  generation  who  had  never  been 
to  either  Calcutta  or  Rio  ;  Bombay  is  more  modern.  Cap- 
tain Scruggs  is  quite  interested  in  the  Nicaraguan  Canal 
project,  and  he  insists  that  with  its  completion  will  pass 

109 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

away  the  sailing  ship  from  the  face  of  the  waters,  though  I 
do  not  entirely  agree  in  this  theory.  People  also  thought 
that  when  the  Suez  Canal  was  cut  through  it  would  kill  the 
long- voyage  trade  to  the  East ;  yet  what  are  the  facts  ?  It 
is  probable  that  nearly  double  the  number  of  sailing  vessels 
pass  Agulhas  per  year  as  pass  Cape  Horn,  fully  eight  hun- 
dred rounding  Africa  in  both  directions  in  a  twelvemonth. 
The  amount  of  case  oil  alone  from  New  York  and  Philadel- 
phia which  goes  East  in  sail  bottoms  is  enormous.  Few 
people,  though,  realize  how  much  cheaper  it  is  to  ship 
goods  from  New  York  to  either  San  Francisco  or  China  in 
sailing  vessels  than  by  rail  or  steamer.  For  instance,  the 
railway  freights  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  Oceans 
averages  about  fifteen  dollars  per  ton  ;  sailing  ship  rates, 
from  seven  to  eight  dollars  per  ton,  and  often  less.  Eighty 
thousand  cases  of  oil,  which  would  be  the  cargo  of  a 
modern  two-thousand  net  ton  iron  sailing  vessel,  are  trans- 
ported to  Shanghai  around  Good  Hope  for  seventeen  thou- 
sand dollars  ;  but  if  they  were  sent  overland  to  San  Fran- 
cisco from  New  York,  and  then  by  steamer  to  destination, 
the  freight  charges  would  be  trebled,  for  they  would 
amount  to  fifty  thousand  dollars. 

We  have  just  finished  reading  aloud  the  book  which 
contains  perhaps  the  finest  descriptions  of  tropical  scenery  in 
EngHsh,  — Kingsley '  s  ' '  Westward  Ho. ' '  Nothing  could  be 
more  charming  than  the  picture  of  the  delight  of  the 
scurvy-ridden  fellow-voyagers  of  Amyas  Leigh  upon  first 
landing  in  the  West  Indies  ;  while  the  description  of  a 
Barbadian  sunrise  is  positively  entrancing.  Latitude,  io° 
15'  south  ;  longitude,  34°  35'  west. 

June  15 

Another  very  excellent  run  was  the  result  of  yesterday's 
work,  even  though  we  could  not  steer  a  better  course  than 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

southwest,  for  we  made  not  far  from  three  degrees  of  lati- 
tude, finding  at  noon  that  Bahia  bore  west,  distant  one 
hundred  and  twenty  miles,  so  that  we  are  at  the  moment 
some  distance  of!  the  land.  Last  night  was  one  of  the 
grandest  that  we  ever  remember  at  sea,  A  strong  breeze 
whistled  from  the  southeast  at  an  angle  of  about  forty-five 
degrees  to  the  long  southerly  swell,  making  a  rather  con- 
fused sea  in  which  we  sheared  about  considerably,  our 
high,  powerful  bows  crushing  the  steep  head  seas  which 
came  rushing  ceaselessly  at  us,  piling  up  on  either  hand  a 
hissing  wall  of  foam  and  then  flinging  it  far  away  on  both 
bows,  which,  meeting  the  next  on-rushing  wave,  and  im- 
pinging one  against  the  other,  would  shoot  up  to  an  aston- 
ishing height,  to  be  driven  back  again  in  a  perfect  hurricane 
of  spray,  which  drenched  the  forecastle- head,  completely 
obliterating  for  the  moment  the  lookout,  who  emerged 
from  these  showers  like  the  shade  of  Neptune,  with  the 
water  dripping  from  his  oil-skins  in  the  moonlight  in  glis- 
tening rivulets.  The  moon  herself  was  full  almost  at  the 
moment  of  rising,  shining  with  so  great  an  effulgence  as  to 
necessitate  the  partial  closing  of  the  eyelids  if  one  looked 
at  the  disk,  and  casting  a  weird  light  upon  the  abysses  of  a 
heavy  rain-squall  crossing  our  stern.  I  don't  know  when 
we  have  enjoyed  an  evening  as  much  as  this  one,  lying  at 
full  length  in  deck-chairs,  watching  the  mizzen-truck  roll 
through  the  stars  in  tremendous  arcs,  and  listening  to  the 
bursting  of  the  seas  against  the  bows  and  the  hissing  of 
the  water  as  it  rushed  under  the  counter.  There  is  but  one 
word  which  describes  it, — ideal. 

Has  any  one  ever  seen  a  keg  of  root-beer  tapped  in  hot 
weather  after  it  has  been  well  shaken  up  ?  Or  has  any  one 
ever  heard  of  a  keg  of  root-beer  at  all.  I  have  always 
thought  of  it  in  bottles.  However,  we  have  one  on  board, 
and  if  the  expansive  force  of  a  superheated,  well- agitated 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

oarrel  of  root-beer  can  be  appreciated,  it  will  be  understood 
that  we  had  a  very  animated  and  sprightly  thirty  minutes 
this  forenoon.  Ever  since  the  commencement  of  the 
voyage  a  beer-keg  of  this  fluid  has  been  churning  and 
rattling  away  under  one  of  the  alley-ways  which  extend 
aft  on  either  side  of  the  cabin-house.  For  some  time 
past  the  skipper  has  been  cautioning  us  to  save  all  the 
Apollinaris  bottles,  as  he  wanted  to  fill  them,  in  cool 
weather,  with  the  root-beer.  But  he  grew  impatient, 
and  concluded  to  broach  the  keg  this  morning,  after  the 
contents  had  been  well  shaken  up  for  a  week  in  equatorial 
heat.  Therefore  he  gathered  round  about  him  a  phalanx 
of  empty  bottles,  and,  assisted  by  the  second  mate  and  the 
boy  Sammie,  advanced  hardily  against  the  passive  "  kag." 
After  much  ado,  and  the  use  of  sundry  expletives  and  the 
dripping  of  perspiration,  they  got  it  mounted  on  its  side 
upon  a  low  wooden  box,  wedged  it,  held  a  bottle  under 
the  spigot,  turned  the  faucet,  and  stood  by.  But  some- 
thing was  wrong  ;  no  liquor  flowed,  so  that  the  spigot  must 
have  been  plugged  with  something.  *'Mr.  Rarx,"  said 
the  skipper,  * '  go  and  get  a  bit  of  stiff  wire. ' '  Back  came 
the  second  mate  at  the  end  of  a  minute,  during  which  Cap- 
tain Scruggs  was  engaged  in  impotently  kicking  and  pound- 
ing the  keg  ;  and  when  Mr.  Rarx  had  brought  the  wire,  he 
spent  ten  minutes  jabbing  away  with  it,  eliciting  with  great 
force  now  and  then  a  little  jet  of  brown  foam,  which  gener- 
ally hit  him  somewhere  in  the  face,  which  he  persisted  in 
holding  in  front  of  the  spigot.  Tiring  of  this,  which  gave 
promise  of  lasting  all  day  without  bearing  fruit,  he  despatched 
the  carpenter  for  an  auger,  having  finally  reached  the  con- 
clusion that  it  was  for  lack  of  a  vent  that  nothing  would 
flow.  The  second  mate  was  intrusted  with  its  manipula- 
tion, and  very  confidently  proceeded  to  bore  a  hole  in  the 
bung  in  the  upper   side.     The  wildest  dream   could  not 

112 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

have  pictured  huger  success.  No  sooner  had  the  instru- 
ment pierced  the  wood  than,  with  a  hissing  shriek,  a 
column  of  dark  Hquid  as  big  as  a  pencil  shot  high  into  the 
air  like  the  spouting  of  a  whale,  breaking  full  against  Mr. 
Rarx's  head,  after  blowing  the  auger  out  of  the  hole. 
Then  there  were  frantic  shoutings  for  a  plug,  while  the 
little  cascade  played  merrily  away,  falling  in  a  gentle 
shower  of  amber  froth  upon  those  who  tried  in  vain  to  stay 
its  impetuous  flow.  Finally  it  was  plugged,  and  the  skip- 
per called  for  a  tumbler,  that  he  might  draw  a  glassful  of 
the  godly  nectar,  and,  sipping  it,  gain  courage  for  the  bot- 
tling operation.  But,  oh,  misery  !  No  sooner  was  the 
faucet  turned  than  out  shot  a  horizontal  stream  of  root- 
beer  as  large  as  a  garden-hose,  and  with  such  incredible 
force  that  the  liquid  was  blown  into  a  sticky  foam  a  few 
inches  from  the  spigot.  Then  there  was  a  rush  for  uten- 
sils on  every  one's  part  but  the  skipper's,  who  stuck  fear- 
lessly to  his  post  in  spite  of  the  thick  jet  of  mucilaginous 
steam,  trying  to  turn  the  faucet  with  a  monkey-wrench. 
During  this  exhibition  my  wife  and  I  stood  at  the  break  of 
the  poop,  looking  down  upon  the  actors,  and  simply  howl- 
ing at  the  old  man,  who,  crouched  low  upon  the  deck, 
wrestled  like  a  gladiator  with  the  unruly  * '  kag' ' ;  and 
when  he  finally  emerged  from  his  vapor-bath,  with  drip- 
ping beard  and  garments  soaked  to  the  skin,  I  feared  that 
the  second  mate  would  die  of  apoplexy.  However,  most  of 
the  beer  was  saved,  and  we  filled  and  corked  away  fully 
seventy-five  bottles  of  the  bubbling  mixture.  Latitude, 
12°  51'  south  ;  longitude,  36°  2'  west. 

June  16 

Most  doleful  to  disclose,  the  Trades  began  to  let  go  this 
morning,  and  at  ten  o'clock  the  sky-sails  were  set  for  the 
first  time  in  several  days,  while  at  the  present  moment,  the 
8  113 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

middle  of  the  afternoon,  we  are  doing  wretchedly,  even 
though  we  have  come  up  to  south-southwest.  As  for  the 
day,  it  was  really  magnificent  ;  temperature  of  the  air,  80°  ; 
of  the  sea,  78°,  while  the  breeze  was  of  that  singular  mix- 
ture of  vigor  and  balm  so  often  observed  in  the  southeast 
trade-wind.  Not  a  cloud  specked  the  deep  cobalt  of  the 
heavens  all  day  save  some  feathery  mare's-tails  near  the 
zenith  and  a  few  clusters  of  pearly  clouds  on  the  south- 
eastern horizon. 

As  usual,  though,  there  was  something  to  mar  the  se- 
renity of  the  day  ;  how  many  days  are  there  without  some 
untoward  incident  to  cast  its  fell  shadow  ?  In  this  case  it 
was  the  temper  of  Captain  Scruggs,  who  no  sooner  did  he 
perceive  that  the  wind  was  letting  go  than  he  at  once  began 
to  blackguard  the  men  and  the  weather  in  wild,  lurid  lan- 
guage. Perhaps  he  wanted  to  catch  up  with  himself,  for 
it  must  be  chronicled  that  three  days,  actually  three  long 
days,  seventy-two  hours,  have  passed  without  his  having 
consigned  any  one's  immortal  parts  to  the  fathomless  pit  ! 
Last  evening  my  wife  asked  him  if  about  20°  south  wasn'  t 
the  average  spot  to  lose  the  Trades  ;  this,  in  truth,  is  about 
the  usual  place  at  which  the  southeast  winds  vanish,  but 
the  disagreeable  man  glared  at  us  for  a  few  seconds  and 
then  snapped,  "  How  do  I  know?  You're  liable  to  lose 
'm  any^vhere,"  with  an  explosion  on  the  final  word. 

It  is  strange  how  he  always  tries  to  show  that  he  knows 
just  a  little  bit  better  than  any  one  else  ;  if,  for  instance,  I 
asked  him  if  Montevideo  wasn't  in  34°  50'  south,  he  would 
be  certain  to  reply,  "No  ;  34°  55',"  on  which  occasions 
the  mate  usually  gazes  in  wonder  at  him,  and  then  smiles 
gently  at  us,  as  though  to  say,  "  You  see,  you  can't  teach 
him." 

Ahead  of  us,  distant  from  fifty  to  two  hundred  miles,  lie 
a  number  of  shoal  spots,  called  the  Royal  Charlotte,  David 

114 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

Scott,  Hotspur,  Busbridge,  Victoria,  and  Fly  Banks.  There 
are  more  than  twenty  fathoms  on  all  of  them,  though,  ex- 
cept on  a  certain  unnamed  shoal,  thirty  miles  south-south- 
east of  the  Fly  Bank,  on  which  the  ship  "  Professor  Airy" 
struck  in  1875.  I  wonder  whether  the  water  is  discolored 
on  these  spots  ?  It  would  be  rather  strange  to  come  sud- 
denly upon  a  stretch  of  green  sea  surrounded  on  all  sides 
by  water  of  the  darkest  blue. 

In  a  copy  of  Harper''  s  Round  Table  on  board  I  found 
an  amusing  article  called  "A  Yankee  Skipper's  Trick," 
which  seemed  good  enough  to  transcribe,  so  here  it  is  :  *  *  A 
good  anecdote  is  told  illustrating  the  superior  enterprise  of 
the  Yankee  skippers  years  ago.  The  New  Bedford  whalers 
left  port  for  many  a  long  voyage,  sometimes  to  the  far 
north,  at  other  times  to  the  far  south.  These  intrepid  fol- 
lowers of  the  sea  sought  and  pursued  the  whale  into  the 
ice- clad  latitudes  about  the  poles  with  a  natural  fearless- 
ness. A  squadron  sent  out  by  Russia  to  explore  the  south 
seas,  and  reach  the  pole  if  possible,  had  attained  a  degree 
of  latitude  which  the  commodore  proudly  told  himself  had 
never  been  reached  before  by  white  man  or  other  human 
beings.  While  he  reflected  upon  the  fame  which  would 
surely  embellish  his  name,  his  sailors  cried,  '  Land  ho  !' 
Off  to  the  south  he  descried  a  long,  low-lying  bit  of  land, 
and  hastened  to  shape  his  course  to  reach  it,  there  to  plant 
the  Russian  standard  on  its  highest  point,  claiming  it  in  the 
name  of  His  Majesty. 

"What  was  his  disgust  and  astonishment  when,  as  his 
vessel  approached  the  shore,  he  observed,  over  a  bit  of 
headland,  a  flag  fluttering  from  a  mast-head.  In  a  few 
minutes  a  little  schooner  poked  her  nose  around  the  point 
and  came  sailing  smartly  over  the  waves  towards  his  vessel. 
The  lean,  Yankee  captain,  who  was  standing  in  the  rig- 
ging as  the  schooner  came  up  in  the  wind,  yelled, — 

115 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

**  *  Ahoy  there  !    What  ship  is  that  ?' 

"  '  His  Majesty's  ship  the .' 

**  'Well,  this  is  the  "Nantucket"  from  Massachusetts. 
We're  doing  a  little  piloting  in  these  latitudes,  and  if  you 
want  to  run  in  the  cove  yonder,  why,  we'll  pilot  you  in  for 
a  small  charge. ' 

"The  commodore's  disgust  caused  him  to  square  his 
yards  and  shape  his  course  to  Russia."  Latitude,  i6°  ii' 
south  ;  longitude,  37°  15'  west. 

June  17 

I  don't  expect  that  we  will  weather  the  Abrolhoses  after 
all  ;  we  might  be  able  to  scrape  along,  but  that  would  be 
taking  chances,  which  Captain  Scruggs  never  does.  The 
chief  danger  in  holding  on  to  this  course  would  be  that  of 
drifting  foul  of  the  reefs  which  stud  the  ocean  in  the  vicinity 
of  these  islands.  Therefore  at  eight  o'clock  this  evening 
we  will  go  around  on  the  other  tack,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped 
that  we'  11  do  better  than  we  did  yesterday,  with  only  ninety 
miles  of  latitude  to  our  credit.  This  day  was  even  finer 
than  its  predecessor,  and  we  had  some  very  grand  cloud 
scenery,  the  eastern  horizon  being  covered  at  five  in  the 
afternoon  with  great  cirro-cumulus  clouds  in  which  we  could 
perceive  a  number  of  bright  luminous  spots  on  the  sea-line, 
called  by  sailors  "sun-dogs";  being  the  bases  of  brilliant 
rainbows  whose  arches  were  concealed  by  the  heavy  clouds, 
producing  a  strange  appearance. 

The  carpenter  is  now  engaged  in  hewing  out  a  new 
maintop-gallant- yard,  a  slow  but  interesting  piece  of  work. 
The  old  one  is  weak  and  may  not  withstand  the  heavy 
weather  of  Cape  Horn,  and  the  maintop-gallant-sail  is  a 
very  important  one.  It  is  as  well  to  obser^^e  here,  that 
whenever  anything  carries  away  aboard  of  this  ship  it  is 
never  spliced  and  forced  to  do  further  duty,  as  is  the  case 

116 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE    HORN 

on  many  vessels  ;  the  sheet,  clew-line,  or  whatever  has 
parted,  is  at  once  unrove,  and  a  brand-new  rope  takes  its 
place.  The  first  illustration  which  we  had  of  this  was  one 
morning  in  the  Doldrums,  when  the  maintop-gallant-stay- 
sail-halliards parted  with  a  crack,  and  the  half-dozen  men 
on  the  end  of  it,  among  whom  was  myself,  went  down  in  a 
heap.  Without  a  word  a  new  piece  of  manila  was  rove  in 
its  place  ;  and  the  same  thing  happened  to  the  spanker- 
sheet  a  few  nights  ago.  Indeed,  this  is  one  of  the  distin- 
guishing marks  of  a  Yankee  ship.  You  will  rarely  find  a 
piece  of  old  running-gear  aboard  of  a  square-rigger  flying 
the  stars  and  stripes. 

Late  yesterday  afternoon  we  caught  another  dolphin,  a 
small  one,  weighing  about  fifteen  pounds.  He  showed 
none  of  the  splendid  blues  of  our  first  fish,  though  the 
yellows  and  greens  were  very  fine.  Indeed,  this  dolphin, 
as  he  was  towed  through  the  water  under  the  counter,  re- 
sembled nothing  so  much  as  a  strip  of  gorgeous,  gHttering 
satin,  particularly  whenever,  as  the  fish  rose  slightly  above 
the  surface,  a  glossy  sheen  irradiated  his  lithe,  elegant 
body.  And  immediately  afterward  we  captured  a  bonito, 
about  as  large  as  a  bluefish. 

And  now  we  have  come  to  the  first  piece  of  inhumanity 
or  gross  cruelty  of  which  either  of  us  has  been  a  witness  on 
board.  What  we  saw  before  was  not  much  out  of  the  way, 
except  in  regard  to  the  bad  language  and  the  general  at- 
mosphere of  ' '  toughness' '  that  pervaded  the  encounters  ; 
but  even  they  were  nothing  to  speak  of  when  the  character 
of  the  mates  on  American  sailing  ships  is  taken  into  consid- 
eration. That  which  I  saw  this  afternoon,  though,  went  far 
beyond  hazing,  for  it  assumed  the  form  of  full-fledged  bru- 
tality. I  want  to  begin  at  the  commencement,  so  as  to 
bring  the  whole  affair  to  light  and  allow  the  reader  to  judge 
for  himself. 

117 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

The  actors  in  the  Httle  drama  which  just  escaped  being  a 
tragedy  were  Mr.  Rarx  and  the  Finn,  Karl  Karlsen.  This 
fellow  is  slow  and  thick-headed,  with  a  very  hazy  idea  of 
English,  but  is  always  one  of  the  first  to  jump  if  he  under- 
stands the  order.  He  was  told  this  afternoon  at  about 
three  o'clock  to  overhaul  a  certain  tackle,  one  block  of 
which  was  belayed  to  a  pin  in  the  rail,  while  the  second 
mate  stood  by,  having  in  his  hand  another  massive  block 
of  a  threefold  purchase.  The  captain  was  below  asleep, 
and  I  was  standing  at  the  forward  end  of  the  poop,  not 
twenty  feet  from  Karl.  Suddenly  Mr.  Rarx,  who  was  in  a 
very  bad  humor,  as  I  could  see,  walked  close  up  to  Karl 
and  picked  up  a  small  coil  of  rope  from  the  deck,  and  yell- 
ing, "You  ain't  doin'   that  right,   d you,"  made  as 

though  he  were  going  to  hit  him.  The  man  at  once  set 
about  the  job  in  another  way  ;  but  the  second  mate's  tem- 
per was  so  ungovernable  that  he  stepped  up  to  Karl  with  an 
expression  in  his  eyes  which  I  never  saw  before  in  any 
man's,  gave  him  a  terrific  kick  with  his  "letter-carrier" 
boots,  and  as  the  luckless  fellow  swung  round  under  the 
shock  and  impetus,  Rarx  drew  back  the  ponderous  block 
which  he  still  held,  and  which  must  have  weighed  nearly 
fifteen  pounds,  and  flung  it  full  against  the  sailor's  face. 
I  could  hear  the  thud  distincdy,  while  with  a  sharp  cry  the 
big,  powerful  man  reeled  across  the  deck  and  would  have 
fallen  prone  had  it  not  been  for  the  main  fife-rail,  against 
which  he  sunk  gradually  down,  the  blood  pouring  from  a 
wide  gash  in  his  nose  and  forehead,  and  rapidly  forming  a 
litde  pond  on  the  deck,  while  a  crimson  track  stretched 
from  where  he  crouched  to  the  second  mate,  who  stood 
over  by  the  rail  with  the  block  raised  above  his  head,  as 
though  challenging  any  other  of  the  men  hard  by  to  take 
up  the  row.  Half  the  watch  saw  the  affair,  and  if  looks 
could   have  annihilated  him,   Rarx  would  have  dropped 

ii8 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

dead  on  the  spot  ;  and  I  saw  Broadhead  and  the  French- 
man, who  were  putting  an  eye-spHce  into  the  end  of  a  wire 
rope,  flush  crimson  and  bend  hard  over  their  work  at  this 
miserable  act  of  cruelty. 

Meanwhile  Karl  remained  where  he  fell,  groaning,  trying 
to  stop  the  flow  of  blood  which  was  rapidly  saturating  his 
clothes  ;  why  the  block  didn't  crack  his  head  like  a  walnut 
will  ever  remain  a  mystery  to  me  ;  it  would  have  broken 
the  skull  of  any  one  but  a  Russian  seaman.  For  some  few 
minutes  there  was  a  dead  silence  for  and  aft  ;  then  Rarx 
walked  up  to  Karl,  shook  him  heavily,  and  cried,  "  Now, 

then,  get  away  out  o'  this,  you ;  fine  mess 

you've  made  on  the  deck.  Go  wipe  the  blood  out  o'  yer 
eyes,  and  bring  a  swab  and  get  this  out  the  deck,  and  don' t 
yoii  be  long  about  it,  neither.' '  It  struck  me  that  this  was 
rather  hard  lines,  having  to  mop  up  your  own  blood  ;  but 
in  a  few  minutes  more  Karl  recovered  enough  to  totter  for- 
ward, and  when  he  next  appeared  he  had  a  bucket  of  sand 
and  water  and  a  broom,  and  at  the  end  of  half  an  hour  no 
trace  of  the  assault  remained  save  a  large  gloomy  stain, 
which  will  have  to  wear  out. 

Later  in  the  evening  I  remarked  to  MacFoy  that  this 
was  the  most  villanous  and  unprovoked  piece  of  brutality 
that  I  ever  imagined,  and  that  it  was  astonishing  that  a 
man  who  appeared  to  be  such  a  well-principled  fellow  as 
Rarx  would  do  such  a  thing.  "Well-principled,  is  it? 
Huh,"  was  David's  comment  ;  "peaceable  enough  to  you 
aft  I  guess,  but  you'd  think  different  if  you  could  see  him 
dark  nights  on  the  main-deck  wearin'  ship.  Did  you  ever 
see  a  Yankee  second  mate  that  wasn't  a  hound?"  "I 
don't  know  very  much  about  them  personally,"  I  an- 
swered, ' '  but  they  certainly  have  a  hard  name  ;  the  only 
other  American  second  mate  whom  I  ever  knew  was  on  a 
foreign  ship,  where  he  had  to  treat  the  sailors  like  men." 

119 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

"Oh,"  said  MacFoy,  ''what  do  you  think  o'  what  you 
saw  this  afternoon?"  "Well,  about  the  only  thing  any- 
body could  say  about  it  is  that  it  was  damnable,"  I  an- 
swered. Here  the  bosun  looked  steadily  at  me  and  said, 
"If  you'd  seen  what  I  have  in  these  ships  for  four  years 
you'd  think  no  more  o'  that  than  steppin'  on  a  cock- 
roach. ' ' 

At  any  rate,  I'll  never  forget  the  scene  at  the  instant 
before  the  block  struck  Karl's  face  :  about  half  the  watch 
in  the  rigging  looking  angrily  down,  the  clumsy  form  of 
the  Russian  spinning  round  from  the  kick,  and  the  second 
mate  standing  over  him,  red  with  anger,  in  the  act  of  swing- 
ing the  block  well  back  to  gather  force  for  the  blow.  And 
this  is  what  is  known  as  ' '  discipline' '  in  Yankee  deep- 
water  men  !  Well,  my  only  comment  is,  thank  God  that 
my  wife  wasn't  on  deck  to  see  it.  Latitude,  17°  45'  south  ; 
longitude,  38°  5'  west. 

June  18 

No  one  to-day  made  the  least  allusion  to  yesterday's  sin- 
ister deed  until  this  evening  ;  Mr.  Rarx  was  as  bland  as 
usual,  and  after  supper  all  that  the  skipper  said  was,  "  They 
tell  me  the  second  mate  had  a  little  fun  yesterday. ' '  This 
indifference  served  to  corroborate  the  bosun's  remark  about 
what  he  had  seen  in  Yankee  ships  I  think  that  the  skip- 
per wanted  me  to  express  my  opinion  and  then  he  was 
going  to  tell  me  his  in  a  loud  voice  before  the  men  ;  but  I 
asked  him  if  there  wasn't  a  ship  over  to  leeward,  pointing 
abaft  the  beam  ;  it  served  the  purpose  very  well,  for  he 
fetched  up  his  lumbering,  prehistoric  telescope  and  passed 
five  minutes  or  so  in  looking  for  a  vessel  which  wasn't  there, 
so  that  he  forgot  all  about  Rarx  and  the  Finn. 

To  our  great  astonishment  we  were  enabled  by  a  little 
shift  of  wind  to  fetch  by  the  Abrolhos  Islands  and  to  keep 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

on,  as  we  were  on  the  port  tack.  It  was  a  matter  of  great 
satisfaction  to  us  all,  and  it  put  the  captain  in  quite  a  ra- 
diant humor.  The  wind  has  been  pretty  well  from  the 
eastward  of  late,  and  even  if  it  hasn't  been  very  strong,  it 
enabled  us  for  the  first  time  in  many  days  to  round  in  the 
weather- braces  and  take  advantage  of  what  there  was. 
Last  night  was  exactly  like  the  weather  during  a  summer 
northeaster  on  the  New  England  coast,  one  of  those  dis- 
agreeable spells  which  occur  two  or  three  times  in  July 
and  August  that  fill  the  hearts  of  the  hotel  proprietors 
with  dismay.  A  dense  drizzle,  increasing  at  times  to  heavy 
showers,  prevailed  throughout  the  night,  accompanied  by  a 
mist  which  concealed  everything  one  hundred  yards  away  ; 
while  at  times  we  had  short  but  severe  puffs  of  wind,  for 
which  we  had  to  stow  the  sky-sails.  At  9. 30  in  the  even- 
ing a  very  strong  breeze  came  out  of  the  east  ;  and,  in- 
creasing, the  second  mate,  whose  watch  it  was,  went  for- 
ward to  haul  down  the  jib-topsail.  So  he  left  us  on  the 
poop  in  a  heavy  shower,  and  in  a  few  minutes  we  heard 
some  sharp  slatting,  but  paid  no  attention  to  it,  supposing 
that  the  jib-topsail-sheet  had  got  adrift.  Presently  Mr. 
Rarx  came  back  breathing  heavily,  and  remarked,  "Very 
funny  ;  I  don't  see  how  that  sail  could  go  like  that." 
''What's  wrong?"  I  asked.  "Wrong?  Why,  the  main- 
top-gallant-stay-s'l's  clean  gone  out  the  bolt-ropes,  and  in 
a  minute  we'  11  have  the  old  man  up  here  tellin'  me  '  twas 
my  fault. ' ' 

Sure  enough,  in  a  few  moments  the  captain's  bushy  face 
arose  through  the  companion-way,  and  he  said  without  pre- 
liminary, * '  I  suppose  that  was  the  main-t'  -gallant-stay-s'  1 
that  went,  eh  ?' ' 

"Yes,  sir,"  answered  Mr.  Rarx,  meekly,  "  I  was " 

* '  I  suppose  you  were  going  to  say  that  you  was  about 
to  haul  it  down  ;  well,  you  needn't  bother  to  explain  ;  if 

121 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

you  hadn't  had  it  too  flat  'twouldn't  have  went  ;  thirty- 
years  ago,  men  didn't  sign  as  second  mate  till  they  knew 
how  to  trim  a  sail. ' ' 

The  blighting  sarcasm  with  which  he  said  this  put  the 
second  mate's  temper  on  edge  again,  and  I  expect  that 
he'll  store  this  up  against  the  skipper  for  possible  future 
use,  for  he  is  unquestionably  a  fine  sailor-man. 

It  is  rather  remarkable  that  we  have  caught  no  fish 
lately,  as  the  sea  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Abrolhos  Islands  is 
the  greatest  fishing-ground  on  the  whole  Brazilian  sea- 
board. For  twenty-four  hours  now  we  have  been  on 
soundings  with  an  average  depth  of  forty  fathoms  ;  and 
while  the  water  is  of  a  dirty  green  color,  it  is  wonderfully 
phosphorescent,  though  not  quite  equalling  the  water  on 
the  equator  ;  still,  when  the  patent  log  was  hauled  in  last 
evening  at  eight  o'clock  (it  hung  up  and  down  at  that 
hour),  the  line  was  a  rope  of  fire,  dripping  with  silver 
sparks,  and  long  after  it  had  been  coiled  away  over  a  pin 
it  continued  to  emit  brilliant  flashes  of  phosphoric  light. 

Our  new  main-topgallant-yard  is  coming  along  nicely. 
It  is  being  trimmed  down  from  one  of  the  double  top- 
gallant-yards which  the  ship  used  to  carry  ;  this  is  a 
rather  remarkable  fact,  that  if  a  vessel  carries  double  top- 
gallant-sails the  yards  will  be  larger  in  every  way  than  if  they 
were  single.  It  would  be  hard  to  conceive  a  more  gnome- 
like appearance  than  that  presented  by  the  carpenter  to- 
day as  he  was  hewing  at  the  spar  with  an  adze,  seen  from 
a  distance  of  about  one  hundred  feet  ;  nearer,  the  illusion 
vanished.  But  his  tall,  peaked  felt  hat,  immensely  broad 
face,  open  dungaree-jumper  which  refused  to  meet  over  his 
globular  person,  and  short,  fat  legs,  lent  him,  when  he  rested 
on  his  adze  with  wide-spread  feet,  a  wonderfully  elfin  aspect. 

In  a  squall  this  morning  I  noticed  that  the  mate  wore 
for  the   first  time  a  tremendously  thick  garment  of   red 

122 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

cloth,  which  he  called  a  llama  coat,  being  made  of  the 
wool  or  hair  of  that  quadruped.  It  looked  something  like 
a  flannel  shirt,  but  was  not  split  up  the  sides,  and  seemed 
to  be  as  thick  as  a  felt  slipper.  Mr.  Goggins  says  that  he 
has  never  yet  seen  the  rain  which  can  penetrate  it.  Per- 
haps the  most  remarkable  thing  about  it  is  the  fact  that  he 
has  worn  it  for  fifteen  years  and  intends  to  wear  it  fifteen 
more.  How  sailors  hate  oil-skins  !  Their  aversion  to  them 
is  universal,  and  seems  to  be  unreasonable.  The  captain, 
for  instance,  has  several  ancient,  heavy  suits  which  he  calls 
his  Cape  Horn  clothes.  Whenever  his  presence  is  required 
for  any  length  of  time  in  a  heavy  rain,  he  dons  one  of  these 
suits  and  goes  on  deck  in  a  soft  felt  hat  and  a  pair  of 
slippers,  only  to  return  in  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes  with 
dripping  garments,  his  slippers  sobbing  at  every  step  ;  in 
two  minutes,  though,  he  is  arrayed  in  another  suit,  with  the 
same  foot-gear,  and  marches  on  deck  again  to  repeat  this 
operation  as  long  as  his  dry  clothes  hold  out.  All  this  for 
dislike  of  oil-skins  and  boots.  Latitude,  19°  56'  south  ; 
longitude,  38°  15'  west. 

June  19 

Rio  is  said  to  possess  a  superb  climate  in  the  winter 
months  ;  but  if  it  is  finer  than  the  weather  which  we  are 
having  now  it  must  be  supernaturally  beautiful.  For 
twenty-four  hours  we  have  run  before  a  fresh  northeast 
breeze,  the  only  fault  to  be  found  with  which  is  the  fact 
that,  as  we  are  now  dead  before  the  wind,  the  after-sails  are 
the  only  ones  which  draw,  blanketing  the  others.  The 
course  this  morning  was  given  to  the  quartermaster,  south- 
west, which  will  not  be  altered  except  in  case  of  necessity 
till  we  have  passed  the  Falklands.  No  mention  has  been 
made,  by  the  way,  of  our  helmsmen,  dignified  by  the  name 
of  quartermasters.     They  do  not  really  hold  this  rank,  as 

123 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

they  are  merely  sailors  who  have  been  picked  out  by  the 
mates  as  the  best  helmsmen,  and  receive  no  more  wages 
than  able  seamen.  The  idea  of  this  is  to  have  only  certain 
men  to  steer  the  ship,  that  they  may  thoroughly  under- 
stand her  under  all  circumstances.  It  is  curious  to  see 
how  much  less  tanned  these  men  are  than  the  others, 
owing  to  the  protection  of  the  wheel-house. 

The  old  mate  continues  to  crawl  growlingly  about  the 
decks,  grumbling  at  various  actual  and  phantasmagorical 
afflictions.  His  mode  of  progression  is  a  sort  of  creeping 
prowl,  as  he  thrusts  his  face  into  every  nook  and  cranny, 
with  a  hundred  wrinkles  in  his  great,  flabby  nose,  as  though 
he  were  continuously  assailed  with  disagreeable  odors.  He 
hazes  the  men  a  great  deal  more  than  the  second  mate  does, 
though  I  do  not  think  that  he  is  particularly  courageous  ;  a 
flock  of  Gogginses  might,  like  jackals,  prove  dangerous, 
but  singly,  his  valor  I'm  sure  would  dwindle  at  close  quar- 
ters. Being  a  poor  seaman,  the  men  have  no  respect  at  all 
for  him,  and  in  the  presence  of  the  skipper  he  bawls  at  the 
sailors  and  makes  a  feint  of  hitting  them,  glancing  at  the 
old  man  for  approval,  as  he  rolls  about,  exhorting  them  in 
his  most  rasping  voice  to  ' '  Come  now,  git  a  move  on. ' ' 

Mr.  Rarx  gets  several  times  more  work  out  of  his  watch, 
for  he  knows  how  to  handle  the  men  ;  and  as  he  has  re- 
covered his  equanimity  he  continues  to  exhibit  his  claims  to 
being  a  humorist.  His  men  were  hoisting  the  yards  up 
taut  in  the  second  dog-watch  yesterday,  and  when  they 
came  to  the  maintop-gallant-halliards,  they  burst  into  a  fine 
chanty,  ' '  Whiskey' '  ;  then  when  they  had  finished  with 
the  main-yards  they  began  on  the  foretop-gallant- halliards, 
but  without  a  song.  The  yard  seemed  to  stick  a  bit ;  and 
as  sailors  can  always  do  twice  the  work  with  the  inspiration 
of  a  song,  Mr.  Rarx  called  out,  ' '  Give  us  a  little  more  of 
that  whiskey,  fellows";  which  so  tickled  the  fellows'  fancies 

124 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE    HORN 

that  some  of  them  shook  in  their  extremity  of  mirth,  though 
a  sailor  must  ahvays  laugh  at  a  mate's  joke.  If  the  second 
mate  were  not  such  a  bad-tempered  man  he  would  not  be 
an  unpleasant  companion,  for  he  talks  well  and  is  always 
very  neat  ;  but  his  recent  villanous  deed  deprives  his  con- 
versation of  most  of  its  erstwhile  attractions,  while  he  ap- 
pears to  think  absolutely  nothing  of  it. 

Louis  Jacquin  is  indisputably  the  best  sailor  in  the  fore- 
castle, though  young  Broadhead,  the  New  Yorker,  is  by  no 
means  a  bad  second.  Louis's  marlinspike  seamanship  is 
really  beautiful  ;  and  it  turns  out,  as  I  expected,  that  he 
has  served  a  long  period  in  the  French  navy.  Strange  how 
sailors  shift  back  and  forth  from  man-of-war  to  merchant- 
man. This  man  has  good  principles,  too  ;  for  when  the 
little  bosun  Rumps  began  to  blackguard  the  skipper  the 
other  day,  saying,  **  I'd  like  to  have  a  crack  at  you  ashore," 
looking  up  at  the  poop,  the  Frenchman  said,  "  Zat  ees  not 
right' ' ;  nor  was  this  intended  for  me  to  hear.  Louis  made 
a  queer  mistake  the  other  day.  He  was  telling  Broadhead 
about  the  attractions  of  Paris,  and  finally  asked  him,  "  Have 
you  evair  seen  Pere  la  Chere?"  "What's  that?"  said 
Broadhead.  * '  Pere  la  Chere,  zee  cemetarie, ' '  answered 
Jacquin.  It  was  an  odd  mistake  for  a  Frenchman  to 
make. 

The  captain  is  in  fine  feather  now  that  we  are  doing  well, 
but  is  annoyed  that  we  do  not  meet  more  steamers.  I  never 
saw  a  skipper  so  anxious  to  be  spoken  and  reported  as  Cap- 
tain Scruggs  ;  and  last  evening  when  a  large  steamer  passed 
us  bound  south,  probably  to  Rio,  he  almost  wept  because  it 
was  dark. 

One  of  our  two  cabin  cats  has  vanished  ;  it  was  the 
"  coon-cat,"  and  after  a  long  search  to-day  we  were  forced 
to  the  belief  that  it  has  fallen  overboard.  It  is  hard  luck, 
and  its  companion,  the  Maltese,  is  inconsolable.     The  cap- 

125 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

tain  seems  really  cut  up  about  it,  for  he  has  all  a  sailor's 
fancy  for  animals.  One  of  Mr.  Goggins's  traits,  however, 
is  his  cruelty  to  the  poor,  ugly  alley-cat  which  belongs  to 
him, — another  illustration  of  the  sort  of  creature  that  he  is. 
Latitude,  22°  30'  south  ;  longitude,  39°  25'  west. 

June  20 

At  nine  o'clock  this  morning  I  sighted  a  vessel's  upper 
canvas  ahead,. far  down  in  the  southwest ;  she  seemed  to  be 
a  bark,  and  as  such  I  reported  her  to  the  skipper.  The 
breeze  was  from  the  eastward  and  blowing  fresh,  so  that 
every  sail  was  drawling  to  the  utmost,  and  we  were  doing 
nearly  eleven  knots  at  the  time.  Slowly  we  drew  up  on 
the  vessel,  slowly  but  certainly,  and  at  eleven  o'clock  she 
proved  to  be  a  ship,  and  we  concluded  that  she  was  one  of 
the  Englishmen  which  sailed  a  week  ahead  of  us  :  the 
**  Balclutha,"  from  London,  the  "Merioneth,"  from 
Sw^ansea,  and  the  "  Peleus,"  from  Hamburg,  all  bound  to 
San  Francisco,  and  the  "Annesley,"  from  Cardiff  for 
Portland,  Oregon.  It  was  quite  probable  that  we  would 
fall  in  with  each  other  hereabouts.  In  spite  of  the  power 
of  our  glasses,  how^ever,  it  was  impossible  to  tell  for  a  long 
while  whether  she  was  a  Yankee  or  a  Britisher,  until  all  at 
once  she  yawed,  when  the  sun  reflected  from  her  sails 
showed  that  they  were  of  cotton,  so  that  the  chances  were 
in  favor  of  her  hailing  from  the  States.  We  paid  no  fur- 
ther attention  to  her,  though,  till  after  dinner,  when,  by 
that  time  having  raised  her  hull  out  of  the  water,  we  per- 
ceived that  she  carried  a  stunsail  on  the  starboard  side  ! 
Here  was  a  spectacle  as  unusual  as  a  blue  moon  in  these 
days  of  scanty  rigs  and  short  crews  !  Still,  in  spite  of  her 
extra  cloths,  w^e  overhauled  her,  and  soon  made  the  addi- 
tional discovery  that,  like  ourselves,  she  crossed  three  sky- 
sail-yards.     (What  a  graceful,  slender  look  they  give  to  a 

126 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

*  vessel  !)  Captain  Scruggs  at  this  instant  emerged  from 
the  cabin  with  his  ancient,  feeble-looking,  clattering,  brass 
telescope  under  his  arm,  levelled  it  at  the  flying  stranger, 
bracing  the  long,  tottering  tubes  against  the  top-gallant- 
backstays,  gazed  at  her  for  a  full  minute,  and  announced 
her  name, — the  "Judas  Dowes."  Now,  this  vessel  sailed 
from  New  York  for  San  Diego  six  days  before  we  did,  and 
though  she  has  a  fine  record  as  a  fast  sailer,  lo  !  we  have 
overhauled  her  on  the  fortieth  day.  I  am  under  the  im- 
pression that  Captains  Scruggs  and  Piatt  had  a  wager  as  to 
who  would  pass  the  equator  first  ;  and  as  the  ' '  Dowes' ' 
undoubtedly  crossed  ahead  of  us,  our  skipper  was  in  quite 
a  bad  humor  when  he  found  who  the  stranger  was.  We 
asked  him  if  he  couldn't  be  mistaken,  to  which  he  disdain- 
fully answered,  "  Mistaken  ?  Of  course  not  ;  wasn't  I  mas- 
ter of  her  four  years  before  I  took  the  *  Hosea  Higgins'  ?  " 
'  *  Does  Piatt  recognize  us,  do  you  suppose  ?' '  I  asked  him 
then.  "Most  certainly  he  does,"  testily  replied  the  cap- 
tain ;  "who  wouldn't  know  them  upper  topsails?"  And 
in  truth  the  "  Higgins"  could  be  picked  out  among  a  score 
of  other  vessels  simply  by  her  long  topmasts.  There  is 
every  prospect  of  passing  the  * '  Judas  Dowes' '  in  the  night, 
for  at  the  moment,  4  p.m.,  we  cannot  be  more  than  seven 
or  eight  miles  apart. 

Many  people,  even  those  identified  with  affairs  nautical, 
will  be  surprised  to  learn  that  there  are  still  fully  half  a 
dozen  of  our  ships  which  make  a  regular  practice  of  carry- 
ing stunsails  whenever  they  will  draw.  Those  vessels 
which  I  am  certain  follow  this  plan  are  the  ' '  Paul  Revere, 
the  "Judas  Dowes,"  and  the  "  Indiana." 

The  sail  which  the  '  *  Dowes' '  carried  this  afternoon  prob- 
ably doesn't  add  half  a  knot  to  her  speed  ;  but  some  of  the 
ships  mentioned  carry  such  an  extra  spread  of  canvas  as  to 
very  decidedly  augment  their  sailing  powers.     For  instance, 

127 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

Mr.  Rarx  said,  * '  While  I  was  second  mate  of  the  '  Paul 
Revere'  awhile  ago,  we  had  stuns' Is  that  added  a  thou- 
sand square  yards  to  the  ship's  canvas  and  put  two  knots 
on  her  speed. ' '  Some  seafaring  people  of  the  present  day- 
do  not  believe  that  fifty  years  ago  our  famous  clippers  car- 
ried royal-stunsails,  a  leading  maritime  publication  in  New 
York  saying  a  year  ago,  ' '  We  never  heard  of  a  ship- 
master foolish  enough  to  carry  royal-stunsails."  Now 
this  is  a  mistake,  for  Mr.  Goggins  has  positively  asserted 
that  about  thirty  years  ago  he  was  in  a  bark  for  some 
months  that  set  these  auxiliary  sails,  the  vessel's  name, 
according  to  the  mate,  being  the  ' '  Chickloa, ' '  so  called 
after  a  large  coffee  plantation  in  Guatemala.  Far  more 
conclusive  proof,  however,  is  to  be  found  in  ' '  Two  Years 
before  the  Mast,"  in  w^hich  Dana,  always  minutely  accu- 
rate, mentioned  the  royal-stunsails  set  on  the  ship  "  Alert," 
in  which  he  returned  to  Boston  from  California. 

Last  evening  at  the  pumps  I  had  some  interesting  yarns 
from  Murphy,  who  is  a  round,  jolly,  chubby  individual, 
very  active  and  good-natured.  The  second  mate  says  that 
this  fellow  is  not  at  all  a  bad  lot,  and  that  his  only  fault  lies 
in  his  inclination  to  be  a  little  * '  fresh. ' '  Murphy  com- 
menced about  the  American  bark  "St.  James,"  in  which 
he  went  out  from  New  York  to  Shanghai  in  ninety-seven 
days  three  years  ago."  "Oh,  but  she's  just  a  daisy,  she 
is  !  Why,  she's  a  square-rigged  yacht.  And  go,  I  tell 
you  honest,  I  saw  her  log  fifteen  knots  on  that  voyage 
under  the  tops' Is  and  fores' 1  between  Tristran  d'Acunha 
and  the  Cape  ;  and  if  ever  you  want  to  sail  with  a  nice 
man,  you  ship  with  Cap'n  Banfield  ;  there's  no  better." 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  "  St.  James,"  which  is  a  very  large 
vessel  to  be  bark-rigged,  being  of  fifteen  hundred  tons,  is 
the  most  yacht-like  square-rigger  under  the  stars  and 
stripes,  and  a  friend  of  mine  who  went  out  to  Shanghai  in 

128 


BY   WAY   OF    CAPE   HORN 

her  on  this  very  voyage  which  Murphy  mentioned,  in 
speaking  from  a  passenger's  stand-point,  corroborated 
every  word  of  the  sailor's,  and  said  that  it  would  be  impos- 
sible to  find  a  more  agreeable  man  to  sail  with  than  Cap- 
tain Banfield,  who  for  some  time  was  in  the  large  Boston 
schooner  yacht  ' '  Alert. ' ' 

In  contradistinction  to  this  fast  passage  of  the  ' '  St. 
James' '  friend  Murphy  spoke  as  follows  :  ' '  The  last  time 
I  went  round  the  Horn  was  in  the  Yankee  ship  '  Centen- 
nial,' and  we  were  a  hundred  and  ninety-nine  days  from 
New  York  to  'Frisco.  We  had  a  terrible  time  off  Cape 
Horn,  and  ran  back  twice  to  the  Falklands  for  repairs,  and 
at  last  a  third  time  we  bore  away  for  Montevideo.  We 
passed  close  to  Stanley  this  time,  too,  but  there  was  a'heavy 
gale  on  and  we  dasn't  try  for  that  place  again.  As  we  ran 
by,  though,  we  saw  an  American  ship  tryin'  to  weather  the 
Billy  Rocks  at  the  entrance  to  Stanley  Harbor,  and  we 
passed  so  close  to  her  that  I  heard  the  cap'n  say  as  how 
he  could  see  the  sailors  in  the  riggin'  with  the  glasses. 
We  afterward  found  out '  twas  the  *  City  of  Philadelphia. '  ' ' 
Then  I  remembered  the  tragedy  of  this  ship.  She  sailed 
from  Philadelphia  for  San  Francisco  a  little  over  two  years 
ago.  Her  captain  had  just  bought  her  for  himself,  and  she 
had  on  board  a  passenger  travelling  for  his  health.  The 
vessel  was  disabled  off  Cape  Horn,  bore  away  for  Stanley 
for  repairs,  missed  stays  ofE  the  harbor,  struck  on  the 
terrible  Billy  Rocks  in  a  gale  of  wind,  and  every  soul  on 
board  perished. 

The  last  Yankee  square-rigger  to  lay  her  bones  upon  the 
beach  was  the  *  *  Commodore, ' '  which  ran  on  Maiden 
Island  in  the  Pacific,  in  5°  south  and  155°  west,  about  a 
year  ago,  while  on  a  voyage  from  Honolulu  to  New  York 
with  sugar.     All  hands  saved. 

Murphy,  like  Louis,  is  a  man-o' -war's  man,  and  said  that 
9  129 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

the  last  government  vessel  in  which  he  served  was  the 
"Olympia."  "Oh,  Lord,  she's  a  terror  for  work,"  he 
added.  "I'll  bet  she  can't  beat  this  packet  in  that  line," 
said  one  of  the  men.  "  She  can't,  eh?  I'd  just  like  to 
see  you  try  her  once.  This  ship's  a  playground  compared 
to  her."  This,  in  part,  bears  out  what  Mr.  Rarx  said, 
that  this  is  one  of  the  hardest  ships  for  work  that  he  has 
ever  seen.  If  sailors  get  enough  to  eat,  though,  by  far 
the  best  way  to  run  a  ship  is  to  keep  them  hard  at  work 
continuously  ;  they  will  always  be  in  far  better  humor,  and 
when  they  turn  in  they  will  think  more  about  sleep  than 
about  imaginary  grievances,  which  foremast  hands  are  very 
prone  to  do.  Latitude  25°  12'  south  ;  longitude,  42°  14' 
west. 

June  21 

Oh,  simple,  childish  Captain  Piatt  of  the  "Judas 
Dowes  !"  This  morning  when  day  broke  we  looked  in 
vain  for  this  vessel,  for  behold  the  watery  expanse  void  of 
objects  fashioned  by  the  hand  of  man  save  ourselves.  We 
had  confidently  expected  to  see  the  "  Dowes"  upon  our 
quarter,  where,  in  truth,  she  would  have  been  if  Captain 
Piatt  hadn't  shown  the  white  feather,  sheering  off  under 
cover  of  the  darkness  and  secreting  himself  beyond  the 
horizon. 

How  odd  it  is  to  meet  an  acquaintance  away  down  here 
near  the  end  of  Brazil  !  The  last  time  that  we  saw  the 
"Judas  Dowes"  she  lay  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  pier 
from  the  '  *  Higgins, ' '  both  ships  having  just  come  in  from 
sea  ;  and  lo  !  we  renew  our  intimacy  far  down  here,  thou- 
sands of  miles  from  home,  below  the  southern  tropic.  And 
a  sort  of  mutual  good-fellowship  springs  up  between  us,  for 
are  we  both  not  going  to  fling  down  the  gauntlet  to  the 
dreadful  Horn  in  the  darkness  and  gloom  of  midwinter  ? 

130 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

Everything  is  so  very  smooth  and  sunny  and  cheerful  here 
at  present,  that  it  is  hard  to  beHeve  that  there  are,  no 
doubt,  at  this  moment,  giant  four-masters  strugghng  in  the 
grip  of  an  Antarctic  sou'wester,  hove  to,  with  a  tarpauHn  in 
the  after-rigging,  or  driving  before  it  for  their  Hves,  buried 
to  the  rails  in  those  great  Cape  Horn  surges  which  roll 
so  grandly  onward  in  their  endless  journey  around  the 
globe. 

Turning,  then,  from  such  violent  scenes,  it  is  doubly  pleas- 
ant to  be  wafted  thus  along  over  a  motionless  sea,  rippled 
by  the  fresh  northeasterly  breeze  that  blows  us  over  two 
hundred  miles  of  water  every  day.  It  is  warm,  too,  for  this 
latitude  at  this  season,  77°  at  noon,  for  the  sun  to-day 
reached  the  most  northerly  point  of  his  declination,  and  at 
four  o'clock  this  morning,  at  Greenwich,  he  entered  the 
constellation  of  Cancer,  ushering  in  the  first  day  of  the 
southern  winter. 

Our  skipper  has  formed  the  very  obnoxious  habit  of  im- 
mersing beer  and  Apollinaris  bottles  in  the  galvanized  iron 
bucket  which  holds  our  drinking-water  in  the  pantry,  for 
the  purpose  of  cooling  them  off  ;  so  that  we  were  shocked 
one  day  to  observe  several  labels  floating  about  in  the 
water,  having  added  to  it  glue  and  other  equally  unpleasant 
foreign  substances.  Fortunately,  the  weather  will  soon  be 
cold  now,  which  will,  I  hope,  put  an  end  to  these  objec- 
tionable proceedings. 

Every  Sunday  thus  far  Captain  Scruggs  has  blossomed 
out  in  a  white  *'  biled"  shirt,  with  a  standing  collar  turned 
over  in  front,  by  reason  of  which  he  suffers  torments 
throughout  that  day,  until  about  three  in  the  afternoon, 
when  indications  of  a  sudden  metamorphosis  begin  to 
appear.  First  he  begins  to  move  restlessly  in  his  chair, 
elevates  and  depresses  his  chin  with  great  force,  inserts  his 
hand  inside  the  band  and  tugs  away  at  it,  and  finally,  un- 

131 


BY  WAY  OF   CAPE   HORN 

able  to  stand  it  any  longer,  off  comes  the  offending  collar 
with  a  great  wrench,  while  he  passionately  nods  and  re- 
volves his  massive  head,  to  free  himself  of  all  restraint,  as 
though  he  had  been  in  a  pillory. 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  hardly  a  single  ship-master  will 
say  anything  in  favor  of  Nelson  ;  personally,  I  have  never 
yet  met  one  who  would  admit  that  this  greatest  of  sea- 
fighters  was  better  or  worse  than  any  other  naval  com- 
mander, for  all  of  whom  they  appear  to  have  a  silent  dis- 
dain. A  sea-captain  usually  takes  as  his  model  Napoleon 
or  Caesar  or  even  the  present  emperor  of  Germany  ;  our 
skipper  reveres  the  memory  of  Napoleon  and  considers 
him  the  embodiment  of  everything  grand  and  exalted  ;  as 
for  Nelson,  he  won't  even  deign  to  talk  about  him,  and 
brusquely  dismissed  the  subject  to-day  by  saying  that  Nel- 
son didn't  even  have  much  command  or  influence  over  his 


men 


There  was  a  vast  deal  of  shouting  and  confusion  on 
board  all  day,  occasioned  by  the  shifting  of  the  old  sails  to 
the  new,  strong  suit  for  Cape  Horn  ;  as  the  captain  said, 
*'  Now  we're  gettin'  ready  for  business."  It  is  the  general 
idea  that  old  sails,  nearly  worn  out,  are  bent  for  the  bad 
weather,  whereas  the  very  newest  of  all  are  sent  aloft,  for 
old  canvas  would  melt  like  wet  paper  in  a  really  hard 
squall.  Therefore  the  ship  now  glitters  in  a  brand-new 
suit  of  clothes  and  presents  quite  a  fine  appearance  ;  a 
yachtsman,  however,  would  contemplate  with  dismay  sun- 
dry streaks  of  mildew  and  tar-stains  on  the  main-sail, 
though  this  is  the  first  time  that  it  has  ever  been  stretched 
on  a  yard.  So  long  are  our  topmasts  that  the  big,  upper 
main-topsail  has  a  double  row  of  reef-points  in  it  ;  all  the 
uppers  are  three  times  as  deep  as  the  lowers,  which  seem 
but  strips  of  tape  in  comparison  ;  when  this  vessel  has 
nothing  set  but  the  lower  topsails,   it  must  verily  be  a 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

howling  gale.      Latitude,    27°   50'  south  ;   longitude,   44° 
30'  west. 

June  22 

Good-by,  sweet  north  wind  !  Farewell,  bright,  blue  skies 
and  balmy  weather  !  We  turned  out  this  morning  to  find 
the  ship  ploughing  into  a  short,  severe  sea,  heading  south- 
southeast,  with  nothing  set  above  the  topsails  and  a  strong 
wind  whistling  from  southwest,  or  dead  ahead.  The 
change  came  last  evening  in  the  second  dog-watch  ;  it  was 
hard  upon  eight  o'clock,  and  the  mate  was  telling  me 
something  about  the  fit  of  the  upper  mizzentop-sail,  when, 
looking  ahead,  he  suddenly  cried,  "By  jimminy,  look  at 
that  cloud  ;  here  comes  the  river  Plate,"  and  ran  for- 
ward, bawling,  "  Let  go  the  sky-sail-halliards  !"  Looking 
quickly  toward  the  southwest  I  beheld  a  very  wonderful 
sight  ;  for,  extending  from  west  to  east,  about  twenty  de- 
grees above  the  horizon,  was  a  strange,  narrow  band  of 
black  cloud  which  came  rushing  toward  us  at  headlong 
speed,  with  a  gray  bank  of  mist  beneath  it  extending  to 
the  horizon.  This  mass  had  apparently  risen  by  the  ex- 
ercise of  some  magic,  for  fifteen  minutes  previously  there 
was  not  the  least  indication  of  it  in  the  sky.  Even  as  we 
looked,  another  ribbon  of  sable  cloud  formed  at  an  angle  of 
forty-five  degrees  to  the  first,  and  cornucopia-shaped 
(though  not  vertical  like  a  tornado),  with  the  big  end 
toward  us,  came  charging  down  upon  us  with  all  our  kites 
aloft. 

The  mate's  yell  brought  the  skipper  on  deck,  who  sang 
out  instantly,  "  Get  the  sky-sails  and  royals  in  as  quick  as 
you  can,  Mr.  Goggins.  Keep  her  off  there  ;  hard  up." 
This  last  to  the  helmsman  ;  for  in  an  instant  our  northerly 
breeze  had  been  nipped  off,  and  the  w^ind  was  now  from 
the  west  ;   therefore,  as  the  yards  were  squared,  there  was 

133 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

a  great  thrashing  about  of  new  canvas.  Nothing  parted, 
though,  and  by  8. 30  we  were  pretty  well  straightened  out, 
but  were  surprised  an  hour  later  to  see  the  wind  let  go  a 
good  deal,  while  the  ship  came  up  to  her  course  again, 
southwest.  But  the  captain,  glancing  at  a  gray  mist  to 
windward,  muttered,  *' There' s  dirt  in  that  yet"  ;  and  sure 
enough,  at  five  this  morning  we  had  our  first  taste  of  nasty 
weather,  and  breakfasted  in  a  severe  squall  which  played 
tenpins  with  the  dishes.  Once  more  it  eased  up  before 
dinner  and  we  set  the  fore-  and  mizzentop-gallant-sails  ; 
but  while  the  skipper  was  enjoying  his  postprandial  siesta, 
the  second  mate  came  below  and,  poking  first  his  head  and 
then  his  shoulders  into  the  cabin  in  that  peculiarly  cautious 
manner  of  mates  desiring  to  speak  to  the  old  man,  aroused 
him  with,  "There's  too  much  wind  coming  for  the  t'-ga'nt- 
s'ls,  sir";  to  which  the  captain  answered,  **A11  right;  tie 
'em  up,"  jumping  on  deck,  whither  we  followed  him.  It 
is  remarkable  how  quickly  sailors  rouse  themselves  from 
insensibility  to  alert  action  ;  only  a  moment  previously  the 
captain  was  breathing  heavily  in  a  deep  sleep,  yet  no  sooner 
did  Mr,  Rarx  touch  him  and  make  the  above  observation 
than  the  answer  came  instantly,  as  though  the  skipper  were 
talking  in  his  sleep. 

The  wind  when  we  reached  the  deck  was  rapidly  in- 
creasing and  had  knocked  us  off  to  south  again,  with  a 
bad,  greasy  look  to  windward,  and  it  was  raining  heavily. 
The  men  were  hauling  on  the  lee  maintop-gallant-clew- 
line and  buntlines,  while  Mr.  Rarx  was  settling  away  the 
halliards  and  swearing  that  never,  since  Noah  took  charge 
of  the  ark,  was  there  a  slower  gang  on  a  ship's  deck,  as 
he  ordered  four  hands  aloft  to  put  the  gaskets  on  the  sail, 
the  wind  blowing  their  oil-skin  jackets  up  over  their  heads 
as  they  trotted  up  the  ratlines,  exposing  them  to  a  hard 
drenching  in  the  pelting  rain. 

134 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

During  the  forenoon  watch  we  sighted  a  sail,  which  was 
doubtless  the  "Judas  Dowes"  again.  It  is  astonishing 
how  enormously  a  slight  elevation  will  add  to  the  visibility 
of  objects  at  sea.  From  the  deck,  for  instance,  this  vessel 
was  sunk  to  her  royals,  and  at  the  moment  it  was  utterly 
impossible  to  tell  whether  she  was  a  ship  or  a  bark  ;  but 
by  mounting  to  the  top  of  the  wheel-house,  only  seven  feet 
above  the  deck,  all  three  of  her  upper  topsails  were  in 
plain  sight. 

We  saw  Louis  Jacquin  fly  into  a  regular  Frenchman's 
passion  yesterday  afternoon  while  shifting  the  sails.  He 
was  at  the  lee  upper  mizzen-topsail  yard-arm,  putting  the 
finishing  touches  on  some  gear,  when  the  second  mate 
shouted  up  to  him,  '  *  All  ready  to  sheet  home  ?' '  To  which 
he  answered,  "All  ready,  sair" ;  evidently  misunderstand- 
ing the  question  ;  for  no  sooner  did  those  below  man  the 
sheet  on  which  Louis  was  seated  than  crack  !  went  that 
individual's  black  head  against  the  under  side  of  the  yard, 
and  he  was  then  thrown  oE  to  leeward,  only  preventing 
himself  from  going  over  for  good  by  a  piece  of  wonderful 
agility.  Oh,  what  a  rage  he  was  in  !  He  thought  that 
Mr.  Rarx  did  it  intentionally,  and  the  atmosphere  smoked 
with  foreign  imprecations  ;  and  even  at  that  distance  we 
could  see  his  angry  blue  eyes  (he  has  china-blue  eyes  and 
raven  hair)  snapping  and  popping  away  as  he  roared 
down,  "  Eh  !  well,  sair  ;  what  fs  zee  mattair  below?  Do 
you  want  to  heave  me  ovair  side  wiz  your  sheet  ?' '  and  it 
was  several  hours  until  he  recovered  his  composure. 

Our  new  maintop-gallant-yard  is  all  but  finished  and  has 
been  secured  under  the  starboard  rail  till  needed.  A  little 
remains  still  to  be  done  to  it,  and  these  finishing  touches 
the  goblin  carpenter  insists  on  bestowing  upon  it  in  spite 
of  the  showers  of  spray  ;  and  it  is  an  amusing  sight  to 
watch  him  pop  out  of  his  shop,  snip  ofT  a  few  shavings,  work- 
US 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

ing  like  a  demon  for  thirty  or  forty  seconds,  and  then  pop 
into  his  den  again  to  avoid  a  sea.  By  reason  of  all  this 
spray  flying  and  damp  weather,  I  have  donned  my  Cape 
Horn  red-leather  slippers  purchased  from  the  slop-chest 
and  said  to  be  impervious  to  water.  But  they  defy  com- 
fort equally  well,  being  as  inflexible  as  Cape  Horn  itself, 
and  are  spangled  inside  with  perfect  little  galaxies  of 
wooden  pegs,  so  that  I  fain  would  have  boiled  them  as  the 
pilgrim  did  his  pease.  If  man  were  provided  with  hoofs 
instead  of  feet,  it  is  conceivable  that  he  might  contrive  to 
become  accustomed  to  these  slippers  ;  as  it  is,  I  cannot 
understand  it. 

Having  crossed  the  thirtieth  parallel,  we  are  now  "off" 
the  river  Plate  in  the  sailor's  sense,  who  always  speaks 
of  being  off  the  Plate  when  between  30°  and  40°  south. 
At  least  one  gale  is  usually  experienced  before  these  ten 
degrees  of  latitude  have  been  crossed,  though  ships  gen- 
erally reach  the  thirty-fifth  degree  before  anything  hap- 
pens.     Latitude,  30°  25'  south  ;  longitude,  45°  33'  west. 

June  23 

A  pampero  !  By  heaven's  thunder,  we  are  battling  in 
the  vortex  of  one  of  these  river  Plate  howlers,  with  a  high, 
confused  sea,  and  the  ship  plunging  heavily  into  it,  almost 
denuded  of  canvas  !  Yesterday  at  4. 30  a  reef  was  tied  in 
the  foretop-sail,  as  the  wind  showed  signs  of  rapidly  fresh- 
ening ;  but  there  was  a  lull  from  five  until  midnight,  when 
it  began  to  breeze  up  again,  and  when  we  went  on  deck  at 
7.30  this  morning,  behold  !  a  strong  gale  coming  out  of  the 
west-southwest  and  the  ship,  under  a  reefed  maintop-sail 
and  foresail,  was  pounding  considerably  in  a  very  ugly 
sea,  but  not  taking  much  green  water  aboard.  By  the 
way,  when  a  ship  is  under  an  upper  maintop-sail,  it  is,  of 
course,   to   be  understood    that    all    three   lower  topsails 

136 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

are  set  as  well  ;  and  a  "reefed  fore-  and  maintop-sails" 
means  only  the  uppers,  as  the  lowers  are  too  narrow  for 
reef-points. 

Wonderful  to  relate,  there  astern  of  us  at  daybreak  was 
the  redoubtable  "  Judas  Dowes,"  with  the  same  canvas  set 
as  ourselves.  We  knew  her  by  her  stunsail-boom,  and 
she  was  apparently  gaining  on  us  and  was  making  better 
weather  of  it  than  w^e  were.  I  never  heard  the  wind  so 
shriek  and  roar  in  a  ship's  rigging  as  it  did  this  morning, 
and  it  whipped  the  tops  off  the  seas  and  sent  them  flying 
aboard  in  storms  of  whistling  spray,  which  seemed  to  cut 
the  face  like  powdered  glass.  It  kept  on  breezing,  too, 
and  at  9. 30  the  old  man  ordered  another  reef  tied  in  the 
maintop-sail.  Thus  far  the  damage  from  wind  or  sea  was 
limited  to  the  injury  of  one  man,  Louis  Jacquin,  who  was 
thrown  across  the  forecastle-head  against  an  anchor-fluke 
with  great  force,  badly  lacerating  his  left  leg,  and  incapaci- 
tating him  from  other  work  than  steering.  And  still  the 
wind  increased,  and  at  half-past  eleven  the  skipper  esti- 
mated its  velocity  at  fifty-five  nautical  miles  an  hour.  At 
noon  I  started  to  go  on  deck  to  bring  down  a  book  which 
I  had  left  in  the  wheel-house  ;  and,  without  stopping  to  put 
on  oil-skins,  I  got  into  a  leather  jacket  and  went  up  out  of 
the  companion  door.  The  captain  was  leaning  against  the 
lee  side  of  the  wheel-house,  and  I  was  about  to  join  him, 
when  he  called  out,  "Hey,  don't  you  see  that  sea, — 
jump  !"  I  looked  over  my  shoulder  and  beheld  a  huge 
hill  of  water  rising  higher  and  higher  alongside,  in  that 
peculiar,  lazy  manner  of  very  large  waves.  Still,  trusting 
to  my  own  judgment,  I  did  not  think  that  it  would  break 
aboard,  when  there  was  a  crash  like  a  broadside  of  artillery, 
relieving  me  of  any  further  suspense,  and  I  was  swept  com- 
pletely of!  my  feet  (and  this  on  the  poop),  only  saving 
myself  from  bringing  to  against  the  rail  by  a  lucky  clutch 

137 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

of  the  lazarette  hatch-house.  Then  swash  came  the  water 
back  again,  and  I  was  once  more  half  buried  in  the  cold 
brine  ;  but,  watching  a  chance,  the  skipper  and  I  shot 
across  to  the  companion  door,  opened  it,  and  were  assailed 
with  the  cry,  "  The  cabin's  flooded,"  which  rang  out  above 
the  gale.  It  was  even  so.  The  great  sea  had  stove  the 
forward  skylight  on  the  cabin-house,  and  had  deluged  the 
dining-room  with  hundreds  of  gallons  of  salt-water.  It  is 
impossible  to  conceive  of  such  a  wreck  as  we  encountered 
below.  The  poor  little  gentle  Malay  was  leaning  against 
the  table  almost  in  tears,  trying  to  keep  his  feet  under  him, 
while  Sammie  was  doing  noble  work  with  a  bucket,  baling 
out  the  water  which  was  swirling  about  with  the  rolling,  to 
a  clinking  chorus  of  plates,  cruets,  thick  glass  tumblers  (as 
indestructible  as  granite),  knives,  forks,  and  spoons,  which 
had  been  swept  off  the  table  when  the  water  broke  full  upon 
it.  Ten  minutes  later  our  dinner  would  have  been  reposing 
on  it ;  and  fancy  the  calamity  in  that  event  !  But  it  is  too 
dreary  to  contemplate.  Indeed,  the  dinner  was  delayed 
nearly  an  hour,  and  we  had  neither  soup  nor  dessert, — the 
first  occasion  on  which  we  ever  knew  these  courses  to  be 
omitted  at  sea  ;  the  weather  must  truly  be  violent  when  it 
so  happens.  But  we  had  plenty  of  good  scorching  hot 
coffee  ;  and,  it  might  be  asked,  why  is  it  that  during  the 
heaviest  weather  at  sea  the  coflee  is  always  boiling,  while 
in  one's  private  house  it  is  only  after  a  protracted  warfare 
with  the  cook  that  the  coffee  comes  in  at  a  higher  tempera- 
ture than  lukewarm  ? 

Well,  the  wind  kept  on  blowing  still  harder,  and  at  two 
in  the  afternoon  had  attained  the  fury  of  a  full-grown 
pampero.  And  the  sea  !  Oh,  how  it  boiled  and  seethed 
like  frothy  cream  !  And  how  the  wind  screamed  aloft  in 
the  squalls  !  Fortunately,  they  came  at  comparatively  long 
intervals,  with  sunshine  between  ;  but  while  one  lasted  it 

13S 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

was  nearly  impossible  to  catch  sight  of  a  square  yard  of 
dark  water,  for  the  surface  was  as  white  as  milk  ;  and  the 
crests  of  the  tall  seas  were  fairly  wrenched  off  and  shot 
through  the  air  with  terrific  force,  the  atmosphere  being 
full  of  flying  spoondrift  which  the  toughest  skin  couldn't 
face,  while  the  horizon  was  everywhere  filled  with  ponder- 
ous, breaking  seas.  Our  motion  all  day  was  very  severe  : 
first  a  heavy  roll  which  dipped  the  lee  rail  under,  while  the 
water  boiled  up  to  the  lee  fore-dead-eyes  ;  then  the  awk- 
ward weather  roll  down  the  windward  side  of  the  sea  ;  and 
finally  a  deep,  headlong  dive  into  the  valley,  with  a  wall 
of  water  on  either  hand.  The  skipper  thought  that  the 
average  height  of  the  larger  seas  was  about  forty  feet  from 
crest  to  trough, — not  so  large  as  the  Cape  Horn  rollers  ; 
but  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  this  was  a  very  quick, 
vicious  sea,  with  not  more  than  three  hundred  feet  between 
the  crests,  so  that  solid  water  was  bound  to  come  aboard 
even  on  the  poop. 

Well,  well,  it  was  a  magnificent  sight  ;  and  as  we  are 
now  accompanied  by  a  cheerful  flock  of  Cape  pigeons, 
everything  has  a  true  Southern  Ocean  look.  My  wife  was 
not  in  the  least  frightened  during  the  day  ;  but  she  had 
such  a  good  grounding  on  our  first  voyage  that  it  is  not 
astonishing.  We  made  no  departure  in  the  twenty-four 
hours  but  two  degrees  of  latitude,  which  was  extremely 
good  work,  considering  that  we  were  by  the  wind  in  a 
pampero.  Latitude,  32°  25'  south  ;  longitude,  45°  33' 
west. 

June  24 

In  the  morning  watch  to-day  the  gale  broke  after  blow- 
ing for  twenty-four  hours,  the  main-sail  being  set  at  four 
o'clock,  during  which  process  both  mates  were  knocked 
down  flat  on  the  deck  by  an  unexpected  sea  while  they 

139 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

were  standing  by  the  main-hatch.  At  eight  this  morning 
the  wind  had  moderated  to  a  Hght,  fitful  breeze,  and  we 
wallowed  all  the  forenoon  in  a  high,  broken  sea  ;  indeed, 
throughout  the  night  we  could  get  but  little  sleep  owing  to 
the  severe  rolling.  Glancing  to  leeward  as  soon  as  we  ap- 
peared on  deck,  there  was  our  old  friend  the  '  *  Dowes' ' 
on  our  beam,  distant  a  little  more  than  a  mile,  bobbing 
about  under  her  top-gallant-sails  as  we  were,  though  she 
carried  her  cross-jack  and  we  the  spanker.  She  made, 
indeed,  a  fine  picture  as  she  forged  sullenly  ahead,  showing 
a  glistening  sheath  of  copper  as  she  divided  the  slopes  of 
the  larger  seas,  with  a  glint  of  brass  from  the  poop  when 
the  sun  peered  out  from  between  light  showers.  At  nine 
o'clock  we  perceived  several  agitated  figures  close  to  her 
wheel,  and  presently  a  string  of  flags  blew  out  and  were  run 
up  to  her  gaff-end,  and  quite  a  little  conversation  ensued. 
The  first  signal  which  Piatt  made  was  DWV,  signifying 
"  How  are  you  ?"  This  we  answered  with  BRC,  which  is 
to  say,  ' '  All  well. ' '  Then  followed  in  rapid  succession, 
'  *  When  did  you  sail  ?"  "  When  did  you  pass  the  equa- 
tor ?"  "A  pleasant  voyage, ' '  to  all  of  which  we  replied 
with  the  various  flag  combinations  which  spelled  the  words  ; 
each  then  dipped  the  ensign  three  times,  and  the  interview 
was  brought  to  a  close.  It  was  very  interesting  thus  con- 
versing with  the  sly  wretch,  and  it  is  singular  how  much 
interest  foremast  hands  always  take  in  such  proceedings, 
carefully  following  every  shift  of  flag,  some  of  the  older 
sailors  always  professing  to  be  able  to  read  the  signals, 
often  telling  their  messmates  the  most  absurd  things,  which 
they  implicitly  believe. 

I  never  saw  so  great  a  change  in  any  one  as  came  over 
Captain  Scruggs  yesterday  during  the  gale.  He  was  as 
quiet  and  retiring  as  the  most  bashful  of  individuals,  and  in 
fact  exhibited  an  amount  of  anxiety  surprising  in  so  aggres- 

140 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

sive  and  domineering  a  person.  Nearly  all  masters  of  sail- 
mg  ships,  as  noted  before,  are  nervous  in  bad  weather  ; 
and  in  truth,  a  gale  of  wind  at  sea  is  something  to  make 
one  quiet  and  mindful  of  man's  trivial  strength  when  meas- 
ured against  the  mighty  powers  of  nature.  But  the  captain 
was  unnaturally  reserved  and  almost  crushed,  and  asked  me 
half  a  dozen  times  what  I  thought  of  it  ;  while  at  2. 30  in 
the  afternoon,  standing  on  the  weather  side  of  the  wheel- 
house,  he  put  his  face  close  to  my  ear  and  shouted,  "It's 
blowing  harder  than  ever,"  with  a  rising  inflection,  as 
though  awaiting  my  inexperienced  opinion.  This  morning, 
however,  he  was  his  same  old  self  again,  drenching  Sammie 
with  heavy  showers  of  profanity  on  the  least  provocation. 
In  spite  of  his  depression  yesterday,  the  skipper  gave  vent 
to  one  of  his  quaint  sayings.  At  the  time  he  had  on  a 
cap,  which,  though  not  tied  under  his  chin,  resisted  the 
utmost  violence  of  the  squalls  ;  on  commenting  upon  this 
to  him,  he  cried,  "They're  great  things;  you  ought  to 
have  one  ;  '  twould  stop  on  as  long  as  your  pants. ' ' 

Some  of  the  sailors  are  beginning  to  grumble  even  so 
soon  as  this.  I  had  a  talk  with  old  Kelly  this  afternoon  at 
the  pumps  and  in  a  low  voice  he  let  fall  his  opinions  on 
various  subjects.  Now,  this  man  has  been  well  educated 
and  talks  evenly,  without  effort,  and  the  inflections  and  tone 
of  his  voice  indicate  that  by  birth  his  natural  sphere  in 
life  is  a  good  deal  higher  than  that  of  a  common  sailor. 
"Well,"  he  remarked.  "I've  been  in  square-riggers  for 
thirty-three  years  now,  but  I  never  did  see  one  like  this  for 
yelling  and  cursing  ;  why,  they  knock  all  the  sense  out  of  a 
man's  head  the  way  they  shout.  And  work,  you  talk 
about  galleys,  but  there  never  was  a  gang  of  slaves  driven 
as  we  are. ' '  This  must  be  taken  with  the  usual  amount  of 
salt,  which  should  always  be  liberally  sprinkled  over  the 
conversation  of  the  average  sailor  ;    still,   when  a  second 

141 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

mate  acknowledges  that  the  men  are  hard  pushed,  there  is 
not  much  doubt  about  its  being  true.  Kelly  is  right,  though, 
about  the  shouting  of  Captain  Scruggs  ;  if  there  wasn't  so 
much  sea-room  I  believe  that  we  would  all  be  deafened  by 
this  time  ;  and  the  worst  part  of  it  is  that  this  sort  of  thing 
is  absolutely  useless.  I  have  frequently  known  the  skipper 
to  work  the  men  into  such  a  state  that  they  were  paralyzed 
and  unable  to  execute  the  simplest  order. 

At  the  present  moment,  sitting  in  the  cabin,  we  can  hear 
the  w'ind  beginning  to  sing  again  in  the  rigging,  and  a 
second  gale  would  not  surprise  us  in  the  least,  for  there  is, 
in  addition,  a  heavy  swell  rolling  up  from  the  southwest,  all 
of  which  cannot  be  the  result  of  our  late  gale. 

This  roaring  of  the  wind  aloft  when  it  is  blowing  very 
hard  is  resolvable  into  several  different  tones  :  the  heavy 
shrouds  taking  the  base,  the  somewhat  lighter  backstays 
resembling  the  barytone,  the  halliards  and  braces  standing 
for  the  tenor,  while  the  buntlines  and  clew-lines  take  the 
part  of  a  piercing  falsetto,  as  shrill  as  a  thousand  piccolos  ; 
the  whole  blending  into  a  resonant  chorus  of  orchestral 
power,  with  grand,  majestic  crescendi  like  the  double  open 
diapason  of  a  cathedral  organ.  Latitude  32°  35'  south  ; 
longitude,  44°  50'  west. 

June  25 

The  question  which  agitates  us  at  this  moment  is,  are  we 
going  to  have  another  pampero  ?  for  it  is  breezing  up  fast 
from  west-southwest,  the  same  old  quarter.  We  didn't 
have  much  wind  this  forenoon,  but  by  dinner-time  it  fresh- 
ened so  that  at  one  o'  clock  the  skipper  said  to  the  mate  in 
tones  of  despair,  ' '  Get  that  upper  mizzentop-sail  in,  Mr. 
Goggins' ' ;  and  no  sooner  were  the  men  down  on  deck 
again  than  came  the  order,  *  *  Reef  the  foretop-sail. ' '  All 
hands  were  on   deck,   and  the  foreshrouds  were  instantly 

142 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

filled  with  the  yellow  figures  scurrying  aloft,  and  in  half  an 
hour  the  ship  was  once  more  under  snug  canvas. 

At  four  yesterday  afternoon,  chancing  to  look  under  the 
foot  of  the  main-sail,  my  wife  and  I  saw  a  large  four-masted 
bark  under  top-gallant-sails  bound  north  and  steering  in 
such  a  way  as  to  pass  within  easy  signalling  distance  ;  and 
the  skipper  lost  no  time  in  appearing  on  deck  in  answer  to 
a  summons,  at  once  ordering  the  ship's  number  to  be 
made.  On  came  the  stranger,  and  in  a  few  minutes  we 
could  see  that  she  had  lost  her  mizzen-royal,  yard,  mast, 
and  everything.  She  was  a  very  ugly  vessel,  narrow  and 
dingy,  built  of  wood,  with  a  curious  stern  like  nothing  we 
had  ever  seen  before,  and  no  more  apparent  sheer  than  a 
billiard-table.  Very  soon  she  was  abreast  of  us,  but  no 
answering  flags  fluttered  from  her  gaff,  and  we  wondered 
what  manner  of  ship  this  was  thus  to  ignore  signals.  We 
thought  that  she  was  going  to  pass  us  by  completely  un- 
noticed, when  there  crawled  feebly  to  her  spanker-gaf?  the 
green,  white,  and  red  banner  of  Italy.  The  meaning  of 
this  manoeuvre  was  that  this  ill-starred  old  ship,  which  was 
evidently  an  ancient  steamer,  was  totally  destitute  of  flags 
bar  her  national  ensign  ;  and,  having  no  signals,  she  would, 
of  course,  possess  no  code-book,  and  therefore  our  number, 
standing  out  stififly  a  hundred  feet  from  the  deck,  would  be 
quite  unintelligible  to  her. 

No  sooner  was  this  ship  hull  down  astern  than  another 
one  arose  ahead.  We  were  below  at  the  time,  and  when 
we  reached  the  deck  we  were  almost  abreast  of  each  other. 
Our  name  was  still  flying  from  the  signal- halliards,  while 
the  other  had  hoisted  FGH,  meaning  "What  is  your 
longitude  ?' '  We  gratified  her  wish  and  she  doubtless  got 
our  name  all  right,  but  refused  to  tell  us  hers  ;  but,  dipping 
her  ensign,  went  surging  heavily  along  on  her  homeward- 
bound  course.     A  long  time  passed  before  we  could  make 

143 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

out  what  her  ensign  was,  for  It  was  a  flag  seldom  seen  on 
the  ocean  highways,  and  the  mate  had  the  honor  of  being 
the  first  to  distinguish  it.  It  was  the  flag  of  Chile  :  a  broad 
horizontal  band  of  red  below,  the  upper  half  being  divided 
into  two  squares,  white  and  blue,  with  a  large  white  star  in 
the  upper  left-hand  corner.  She,  too,  was  a  wooden  ship, 
but  not  so  villanous-looking  as  the  Italian,  and  carried 
double  top-gallant-sails  on  the  fore  and  main.  We  all  hope 
that  she'll  report  us,  for  we  have  sailed  through  thirty-six 
degrees  of  latitude  without  having  sighted  any  vessel  which 
would  be  likely  to  report  us  on  arrival.  How  happy  our 
relatives  and  friends  will  be  when  they  see  our  report  in  the 
ship-news  columns  by  that  steamer  just  north  of  the  line, 
"  Spoken,  ship  '  Hosea  Higgins.'  Scruggs,  New  York  for 
San  Francisco,  June  6.  Latitude,  2°  north  ;  longitude, 
28°  west!" 

To-day  at  noon  we  were  almost  exactly  in  the  latitude  of 
Cape  Agulhas,  so  that  the  Horn  is  thirteen  hundred  miles 
south  of  the  southernmost  extremity  of  the  Eastern  Hemi- 
sphere, a  difference  of  latitude  greater  than  that  which 
separates  Halifax  and  Key  West,  or  New  York  and  Ha- 
vana.    Latitude,  34°  46'  south  ;  longitude,  45°  20'  west. 

June  26 

At  quarter  to  five  yesterday  the  skipper,  thinking  that 
we  would  do  better  on  the  other  tack,  wore  ship  at  that 
hour  in  half  a  gale  of  wind.  There  was  a  deal  of  excite- 
ment and  bad  language  on  the  captain's  part,  which  so 
rattled  the  helmsman  that  we  were  thirty-five  minutes  in 
wearing,  about  eighteen  or  twenty  minutes  being  our  aver- 
age. There  was  a  heavy  sea  running  at  the  time,  too,  and 
in  spite  of  cautions  my  wife  insisted  upon  sitting  on  top  of 
the  after-cabin  skylight  during  the  process  of  wearing,  and 

when  we  began  to  roll  heavily  when  before  the  wind  an4 

144 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

sea,  the  expected  happened  ;  for  my  wife  fetched  away  and 
would  have  had  a  very  severe  fall  if  the  captain  hadn't 
grasped  her  tightly  and  held  on.  I  tried  to  reach  her  in 
time,  but  lost  my  foothold,  sat  down  vehemently,  shot 
straightaway  across  the  smooth  deck-house  with  incredible 
speed,  and  brought  to  with  a  smash  against  the  deck-house 
monkey-rail.  I  kept  astonishingly  cool  in  the  flight  across, 
and  even  selected  where  to  put  my  feet  when  I  should 
reach  the  rail  ;  indeed,  it  was  an  illustration  of  the  theory 
that  if  a  man  is  not  paralyzed  with  horror  at  some  frightful 
spectacle  the  presence  of  danger  sharpens  his  wits,  and 
his  mind  becomes  clear  and  calculating.  Immediately  after 
wearing,  the  captain  ordered  the  main-sail  reefed,  and  at 
eight  in  the  evening  a  single  reef  was  tied  in  the  maintop- 
sail,  the  weather  being  very  squally,  with  much  rain  and 
hail. 

To-day  dawned  with  a  light  west-southwest  wind  and  a 
clear  sky,  with  a  long,  southerly  swell  which  made  us  roll 
dreadfully  all  night.  At  nine  o'clock  we  broke  of?  to  the 
southward  of  northwest  ;  so  the  captain  wore  round  once 
more,  and  now  we  are  making  south  by  west  half  west- 
Skippers  have  an  odd  way  sometimes  of  saying  south  by 
west,  accenting  strongly  the  "by"  as  a  precaution  against 
mistaking  the  course  for  south-southwest,  if  slurred  over 
quickly. 

We  thought  that  we  had  finished  with  the  ''Judas 
Dowes,"  but  no  ;  this  morning  at  dawn  she  was  in  plain 
view,  five  miles  astern,  and  overhauled  us  so  rapidly  that 
when  we  went  on  the  other  tack  she  had  neared  us  to  three 
miles.  No  sooner  had  she  observed  us  m  the  act  of 
wearing  than  up  went  her  main-sail  and  cross-jack,  and 
she  followed  suit  ;  there  is  no  gainsaying  the  fact  that  the 
' '  Dowes ' '  is  the  faster  ship  on  a  wind,  though  free  things 
are  reversed.     By  standing  so  long  on  the  starboard  tack 

10  145 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

through  Wednesday's  gale  and  some  heavy  winds  since 
we  found,  when  braced  up  on  the  port  tack  last  night,  that 
the  cargo  had  shifted  slightly,  and  that  on  this  leg  the  ship 
had  a  tendency  to  roll  to  windward.  The  captain  said  that 
the  cargo  hadn't  actually  shifted,  but  had  listed,  as  sailors 
call  it,  the  effect  on  the  ship  being  perceptible  to  no  one 
but  a  seaman, 

Mr.  Rarx  told  me  the  other  day  that  he  spent  two 
years  on  the  West  African  coast,  between  Sierra  Leone  and 
Lagos,  aboard  of  an  English  supply  steamer  ;  and  that 
while  there  he  saw  what,  in  his  estimation,  was  the  loftiest- 
rigged  vessel  that  ever  floated.  *  *  You  can  talk  about  your 
talkabouts,"  said  he,  "but  that  English  man-o'-war  had 
four  yards  above  her  main-royal.  I'm  teUin'  you  a  fact," 
he  added. 

Well,  we  are  dawdling  away  day  after  day  up  here  in 
about  35°  south  instead  of  clipping  down  past  the  Plate 
the  other  side  of  40°.  The  captain  says  that  after  we  have 
passed  that  parallel  until  we  reach  50°  south  we  will  prob- 
ably have  a  number  of  fine  days,  clear  and  exhilarating, 
with  magnificent  sunsets.  We  have  had  some  good  views 
of  the  Magellan  Clouds  lately,  as  the  sky  at  night  in  the 
south  has  been  quite  clear.  They  are  strange-looking 
things,  with  somewhat  the  appearance  of  the  nebula  in 
Andromeda.  Latitude,  34°  39'  south  ;  longitude,  46°  26' 
west. 

June  27 

Very  strong  west  to  west-southwest  winds,  and  the  ves- 
sel laboring  in  a  broken  sea  in  corkscrew  dives  under  single- 
reefed  fore-  and  maintop-sail.  It  was  fine  up  to  midnight, 
when  it  clouded  over  and  commenced  to  blow,  so  that  we 
had  to  shorten  sail  ;  and  at  eight  this  morning,  the  ship 
diving  deeply,  the  upper  mizzentop-sail  was  stowed  alto- 

146 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

gether.  The  ' '  Dovves' '  made  a  valiant  attempt  to  hold  on 
to  us  ;  but  I  think  that  we  can  carry  on  better  in  heavy 
winds,  for  when  day  broke  she  had  vanished  astern. 

Last  evening  at  the  pumps  Olsen  and  I  talked  together 
for  the  first  time.  He  is  a  very  decent  fellow  and  the 
quietest  man  in  the  ship.  "  I  never  did  see  anythin'  like 
the  shoutin'  here,"  he  observed,  the  first  thing.  "Oh, 
blow  that/'  quoth  Murphy  ;  "it  goes  in  one  car  and  out 
the  other."  "That's  all  right,"  answered  Olsen,  "  but  I 
ain't  used  to  it;  and  every  time  the  old  man  hollers  me 
heart's  in  me  mouth.  If  I  ever  sign  in  an  American  ship 
again  it'll  be  the  '  S.  P.  Hitchcock.'  When  me  and  Cole- 
man come  round  from  Honolulu  in  her  little  while  ago,  we 
did  more  work  in  one  watch  there  than  we  do  here  all  day, 
and  there  wasn't  any  yellin'  at  all.  You  never  saw  Cap'n 
Gates  on  the  main-deck  neither  ;  he  knew  his  business. 
On  the  whole,  I  like  British  vessels  about  the  best  of  any, 
except  the  way  they  carry  on  is  fearful,  and  bein'  iron 
ships  they  can  stand  it.  I  sailed  in  the  British  ship 
*  Dominion'  once  from  Barry  to  San  Francisco,  and  I 
never  did  see  such  sail-carryin'.  As  for  the  main-deck,  you 
couldn't  put  your  foot  on  it  in  bad  weather  without  fear 
of  goin'  overboard.  One  night  in  the  Pacific,  about  45° 
south,  in  a  southerly  gale,  there  came  a  crack,  and  away 
went  all  three  t'  -gallant-masts  overboard,  all  from  carryin' 
on." 

Olsen' s  remark  about  Captain  Gates's  knowing  his  busi- 
ness was  a  cut  at  Captain  Scruggs  for  prowling  around  the 
deck  forward  at  all  hours  of  the  day  and  night.  Sailors 
hate  this  ;  and  while  a  ship-master  has  the  right  to  scour 
his  vessel  fore  and  aft  if  he  sees  fit,  he  is  generally  never 
seen  forward  of  the  galley,  unless  something  special  has 
happened. 

After  dinner  to-day,  when  we  went  up  on  the  poop,  we 

147 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

found  that  both  wind  and  sea  had  increased,  but  there  was 
nothing  to  warn  us  of  what  was  to  happen.     We  had  ar- 
ranged the   folding-chairs  against  the  wheel-house,  shel- 
tered from  the  violence  of  the  wind  by  the  bulwarks,  and  I 
was  in  the  act  of  arranging  a  rug  around  my  wife,  when  the 
skipper  cried  out,  "  Now,  then,  mind  yourself  !"     We  felt 
the  ship  rising  higher  and  higher  on  an  unusually  heavy  sea, 
and,  looking  forward,  were  just  in  time  to  see  a  great,  white 
cataract  roar  over  the  weather-side  abaft  the  main-rigging. 
Half  of  it  tumbled  into  the  waist,  while  the  other  half  broke 
with  a  stunning  crash  full  against  the  forward  end  of  the 
poop-deck-house.       It   wrenched    away  a   heavy   wooden 
shutter,  built  to  repel  just  such  an  attack  as  this,  snapping 
a  thick  brass  hook  as  if  it  had  been  of  glass,  washed  away  a 
short,  massive  ladder  leading  to  the  top  of  the  deck-house, 
and  then  bore  down  upon  us  like  a  freshet.    Captain  Scruggs 
again  came  to  the  rescue,  and,  picking  my  wife  up,  chair 
and  all,  held  her  clear  of  the  flood  ;  while  the  only  thing 
for  me  to  do,   seeing  that  my  wife  was  safe,  was  to  fall 
across  one  of  the  stern-bitts  hard  by  and  lift  my  legs  out 
of  the  water  as  I  best  could  ;  and  here  I  remained  for  two 
minutes,  floundering  and  wallowing  about  as  though  on  a 
pivot,  and  this  just  after  an  especially  hearty  dinner.     When 
most  of  the  water  had  run  off,  the  skipper  placed  my  wife' s 
chair  on  the  deck  again  with  such  dexterous  cunning  as  to 
disengage  the  supporting-bar  in  the  rear,  letting  the  whole 
contrivance  down  flat,  so  that  my  wife  lay  prone  upon  the 
deck  in  the  chill  sea-water,  which  still  swirled  about  our 
feet.      It  didn't  seem  to  disturb  him  much,  and  he  only  re- 
marked, as  he  stamped  on  the  deck,  squirting  little  jets  of 
water  out  of  his  Cape  Horn  slippers,  "  There,  that's  more 
water  than  I've  seen  on  this  ship's  poop  since  I've  had 
her."     It  was  really  a  grand  spectacle  as  the  sea  broke  on 
board,  and  would  have  made  a  superb  subject  for  a  camera 

148 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

We  are  now  in  the  very  heart  of  the  violent  river 
Plate  region,  being  at  noon  to-day  abreast  of  that  vast 
estuary,  whose  mouth  is  three  degrees  in  width.  The  Rio 
de  la  Plata,  or  River  of  Silver,  is,  like  Cape  Hatteras,  the 
dividing  line  between  two  climates  :  that  of  the  torrid  Bra* 
zils  and  of  the  cold,  bleak  pampas  of  the  Argentine  and 
Patagonia,  just  as  Hatteras  is  the  turning-point,  so  to  speak, 
in  the  climates  of  our  Southern  and  Middle  Atlantic  States. 
They  are,  too,  about  equidistant  from  the  equator.  A 
rather  noteworthy  fact  is  that,  bar  Cape  Horn,  the  three 
stormiest  localities  in  the  Southern  Hemisphere  are  almost 
exactly  in  the  same  latitude,  though  thousands  of  miles 
apart  :  the  river  Plate,  Cape  Agulhas,  and  Cape  Leewin, 
at  the  southwestern  end  of  Australia.  Latitude,  36°  55' 
south  ;  longitude,  47°  20'  west. 

June  28 

By  way  of  variety,  light  winds  were  vouchsafed  to  us  for 
the  twenty-four  hours,  varying  from  southwest  to  north- 
east, and  we  made  not  fifty  miles  of  southing  in  that  time. 
Very  suddenly  last  night  at  nine  o'clock  the  wind  let  go  at 
southwest,  and  instantly  came  out  of  the  southeast,  back- 
ing gradually  to  northeast,  where  it  is  now  ;  but  though  a 
fair  wind  we  are  not  doing  three  knots  an  hour.  However, 
the  glass  is  falling  and  a  change  is  no  doubt  at  hand,  and 
the  sea  has  gone  down  till  nothing  remains  but  a  sullen, 
greasy  roll  from  south-southeast.  We  earnestly  hope  for 
a  strong,  fair  wind  which  will  give  us  at  least  eight  knots, 
for  the  skipper's  temper  is  failing  rapidly,  and  he  is  begin- 
ning to  rage  at  the  weather.  Generally,  by  the  fiftieth  day 
from  New  York  he  has  crossed  the  parallel  of  50°  south,  so 
that  in  round  numbers  we  are  about  seven  hundred  miles 
north  of  his  average,  this  being  our  forty-eighth  day  at  sea. 
It  has  been  noted  previously,  I  think,  that  he  has  never 

149 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

been  more  than  one  hundred  and  thirty  days  on  a  voyage, 
and  has  made  eight  voyages  between  New  York  and  San 
Francisco  in  less  than  one  hundred  days  ;  his  longest  pas- 
sage of  the  Horn — that  is,  from  50°  to  50° — was  nineteen 
days  ;  the  shortest,  eleven.  Fine  work,  all  this,  which  few 
ship-masters  can  equal. 

My  wife  asked  the  skipper  last  evening  if  he  had  ever 
lost  a  ship.  He  said  no,  but  that  he  had  had  one  or  two 
narrow  calls.  ' '  One  of  the  worst  cases  of  smash-up  I  ever 
saw,"  he  continued,  "happened  to  me  when  I  had  the 
*  Judas  Dawes'  about  six  years  ago.  We  were  well  down 
in  the  southeast  Trades  in  the  Pacific,  bound  from  '  Frisco  to 
New  York  ;  the  weather  had  been  squally,  and  on  this  par- 
ticular day,  in  about  14°  south,  I  had  specially  told  the  mate 
not  to  loose  the  jib-topsail,  but  when  I  went  below  after 
dinner  for  a  nap  the  beggar  did  it.  When  I  went  on  deck 
again  at  four  there  was  a  squall  makin'  ahead,  and  I  ordered 
some  hands  to  stand  by  the  sky-sail-halliards,  for  I  didn't 
know  the  jib-topsail  had  been  loosed.  Well,  sir,  the  squall 
hit  us  (it  was  a  corker)  and  snapped  of?  the  jib-boom  ; 
and,  as  I  ran  forrad,  crack  went  the  foretop-mast,  then 
the  maint'  -gallant-mast,  and  at  last  over  went  the  mizzen- 
t' -gallant- mast.  In  all  my  goin'  to  sea  I  never  saw  the  like 
of  it ;  '  twas  as  bad  nearly  as  the  '  May  Flint, '  only  we  had 
smooth  water.  Forrad  we  were  a  wreck,  with  nothing  at 
all  above  the  foreyard,  while  alongside  was  a  fearful  mass 
o'  gear  slammin'  against  the  ship,  and  you  know  those 
Trades  in  the  Pacific  blow  fresh.  Well,  we  cleared  up  the 
wreck  after  hard  work,  sent  up  a  few  of  the  old  yards  that 
weren't  too  far  gone  to  fish,  made  sail,  and  crossed  Sandy 
Hook  Bar,  ninety-eight  days  from  'Frisco,  under  a  jury- 
rig."  Captain  Scruggs  has  as  great  a  reputation  for  fast 
passages  as  any  living  American  ship-master  in  the  Cali- 
fornia trade,  but  we'  11  have  to  have  better  luck  if  we  are  to 

150 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

reach  port  in  less  than  one  hundred  and  thirty  days  from 
New  York. 

We  are  entering  that  region  most  celebrated  in  the  world 
for  its  sunsets  ;  it  would  be  interesting  to  know  whether 
there  is  anything  in  this,  or  whether  it  is  imagination  on 
the  part  of  captains.  At  any  rate,  we  witnessed  one  this 
evening  finer  than  any  which  we  have  ever  seen  before  ; 
the  sun  sinking  into  the  core  of  a  huge,  crimson  cavern  in 
the  centre  of  an  inky  cloud,  from  behind  which  shot  up 
scores  of  slender,  golden  arrows  toward  the  zenith,  present- 
ing a  scene  of  such  lurid  magnificence  as  to  fill  the  heart 
with  reverence  and  wonder.  And  by  that  same  token, 
the  sun  is  getting  low  in  the  northern  sky,  his  altitude  at 
meridian  being  only  a  little  above  30°,  or  about  the  same 
as  at  New  York  towards  the  end  of  December. 

The  day  being  chill  and  raw,  with  a  noon  temperature 
of  52°,  a  fire  was  lighted  in  the  cabin  stove  for  the  first 
time  ;  and  as  the  thermometer  below  has  stood  for  a  long 
while  at  55°  and  a  dismal  drizzle  prevailed  all  day,  the 
heat  and  glow  of  the  fire  were  grateful  beyond  expression. 
Latitude,  37°  42'  south  ;  longitude,  47°  40'  west. 

June  29 

From  six  o'clock  yesterday  evening  till  noon  to-day  we 
had  a  breeze  so  light  that  at  times  the  sky-sails  flapped 
idly  against  the  masts,  and  for  several  hours  we  were  be- 
calmed on  a  motionless  sea, — a  sea  so  wonderfully  smooth 
that,  but  for  the  temperature,  we  might  readily  have  fan- 
cied ourselves  in  the  equatorial  Doldrums  again.  At  four 
yesterday  afternoon  a  crisp  little  breeze  came  whipping  along 
out  of  the  south  (although  it  lasted  only  two  hours) 
driving  away  the  squalls  and  muggy  air,  a  bright,  rosy 
atmosphere  taking  their  place  at  sundown,  with  a  horizon 
as  sharply  cut  as  the  edge  of  a  razor.      As  for  the  night 

151 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

which  followed,  it  was  as  brittle  and  sparkling  as  any  even- 
ing in  Nova  Scotia,  wanting  only  the  flashing  pennons  of 
the  Aurora  Borealis  to  complete  the  picture.  The  firma- 
ment glittered  with  splendid  constellations,  the  stars  dancing 
and  scintillating  with  the  glance  of  steel,  as  though  electric 
sparks,  while  the  Milky  Way  seemed  firm  and  solid  enough 
to  walk  upon.  A  magnificent  sunrise  succeeded  this  match- 
less night,  and  we  stood  entranced  by  the  glory  of  the 
scene  for  half  an  hour,  watching  the  lovely  colors  shift 
every  few  seconds  like  the  revolutions  of  a  kaleidoscope, 
changing  the  tiny,  pink,  shell-like  clouds  into  glowing, 
golden  embers  as  the  great  orb  touched  the  horizon  and 
threw  a  path  of  crimson  fire  even  to  the  vessel's  side. 
Where  are  the  gales  of  wind  which  are  supposed  to  scream 
incessantly  over  the  Southern  Ocean?  Where  are  the 
giant  seas  which  sweep  the  South  Atlantic  with  their 
foaming  crests?  It  is  not  difiicult  to  answer  the  latter 
question,  for  we  will  not  meet  with  any  of  those  tre- 
mendous rollers  which  have  made  Cape  Horn  the  hob- 
goblin of  navigators  till  we  have  cleared  Staten  Land  and 
receive  the  full  fury  of  the  thousands  of  miles  of  tempest- 
uous ocean  which  lie  to  the  south  and  west  of  the  Horn.  It 
is  true  that  on  our  first  voyage  we  experienced  very  heavy 
weather  when  in  this  latitude  ;  but  then  we  were  bound  the 
other  way  and  were  near  the  forty- third  eastern  meridian 
(about  four  hundred  miles  the  other  side  of  Good  Hope) 
at  this  parallel ;  the  weather,  as  a  general  rule,  is  far  worse 
farther  to  the  eastward  at  40°  south  than  in  here  near  the 
land,  where  bright  skies  and  much  smoother  seas  are  the 
rule  rather  than  the  exception.  We  are  not  more  than  three 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  South  America  now,  so  that 
even  if  we  did  have  a  heavy  westerly  gale  (westerly  winds 
are  almost  constant  south  of  30°  south)  the  sea  could  not 
rise  to  such  heights  as  it  does  off  Agulhas  and  Cape  Horn. 

153 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

But  these  gentle  winds  we  cannot  understand  ;  at  dinner- 
time to-day,  though,  a  nice  Httle  breeze  came  along  from  the 
westward,  and  we  are  humming  along  under  the  sky-sails, 
doing  well  except  that  we  are  not  making  much  westing, 
as  we  can' t  do  better  than  south  by  west. 

The  captain  is  like  one  demented.  As  MacFoy  whispered 
to  me  this  afternoon  when  the  jib-topsail-sheet  parted,  throw- 
ing him  into  a  paroxysm,  "  If  he  doesn'  t  get  a  fair  wind  soon 
he'll  go  mad."  In  truth,  he  has  been  in  a  passion  all  day, 
chassezing  up  and  down  the  main-deck  as  though  he  had 
a  devil.  Just  before  the  sheet  went  he  had  a  spasm  of 
tautening  things  up,  and  went  braying  about  with  a  voice 
of  brass,  driving  the  men  like  animals  before  him  ;  he  had 
just  ordered  the  above  sheet  flattened  in  when  crack  it 
went,  and  in  a  few  seconds  the  clew  of  the  sail  was  in  flut- 
tering ribbons,  for  the  wind,  though  not  strong,  whipped 
away  the  old  canvas  as  though  it  were  a  cobweb.  The 
mate  caught  it  too  when  he  came  out  of  his  cavern  at  quar- 
ter to  twelve  to  take  the  sun,  and  by  the  time  that  we  sat 
down  to  dinner  the  old  man  had  worked  him  into  a  speech- 
less state,  so  that  throughout  the  meal  he  sat  crushed  and 
silent,  with  a  face  like  a  cigar  Indian.  These  repasts  on 
such  occasions  are  pregnant  with  gloomy  thoughts,  stillness 
reigning  as  the  skipper  fiercely  gnaws  at  his  dinner,  clicking 
his  teeth,  while  the  whole  top  of  his  head  seems  to  move 
as  he  chews,  his  temples  particularly  rotating  like  the 
eccentrics  of  a  steam-engine.  His  head  is  quite  bald,  and 
his  face  is  embellished  with  such  enormous  whiskers  that 
his  whole  head  looks  like  an  inverted  sea-anemone  ;  and 
when  he  is  angry,  as  he  was  to-day,  his  black  eyes  so  glitter 
and  snap  under  such  shaggy  brows  that  they  seem  about 
to  jump  out  and  annihilate  you.  After  dinner,  which  ap- 
peared to  increase  his  ill-humor,  being  a  dyspeptic,  he 
went  up  to  put  some  new  panes  of  glass  into  the  skylight 

153 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE  HORN 

which  the  sea  had  broken.  He  fussed  and  fumed  around 
with  putty,  diamond,  and  chisel  for  half  an  hour,  at  the  end 
of  which  time  he  had  one  pane  nicely  adjusted,  when  it 
cracked  across  one  corner.  This  almost  prostrated  him, 
and  when  two  other  cracks  appeared  in  rapid  succession, 

each  calling  forth  a  low,  intense  "d ,"  he  simply  got 

up  and  ran  away. 

Then  this  amiable  man  commenced  on  the  mate  again, 
who,  of  course,  began  to  "bullyrag"  the  men,  and  finally 
brought  down  young  Louis  Eckers  to  his  knees  with  a 
hard  blow  in  the  face  with  his  fist.  This  was  due  solely  to 
temper,  because  he  had  to  repeat  an  order  which  Louis 
didn't  understand  on  account  of  his  ignorance  of  English. 

Our  first  albatross  presented  himself  to  view  this  morn- 
ing. When  you  are  making  your  first  long  voyage  there  is 
generally  some  confusion  at  first,  resulting  in  the  more  or 
less  similarity  between  an  albatross  and  a  molly-hawk.  The 
latter  are  large  birds  and  really  look  a  good  deal  like  the 
former  ;  but  when  you  have  seen  an  albatross  half  a  dozen 
times,  you  will  never  forget  his  appearance.  There  is  no 
mistaking  that  great  beak  or  the  odd  hunchback-look  of 
those  shoulders,  much  less  the  majestic  flight  of  the  stately 
bird  as  he  skims  along  close  to  the  surface  of  the  sea  and 
then  rises  in  a  splendid  circle  on  those  great  wings  of  his. 
Our  friend  of  this  morning,  however,  did  not  long  abide 
with  us,  but,  after  looking  us  over,  wheeled  about  and  van- 
ished in  the  south.  A  Cape  pigeon  struck  the  taffrail  this 
morning  and  fell  on  the  poop  by  the  wheel-house.  He 
was  a  beautiful  little  creature,  with  a  snow-white  breast, 
dark-brown  wings  splashed  with  white,  and  a  glossy  black 
head  and  neck,  with  a  sheen  as  of  satin  on  the  feathers. 
After  sufficiently  admiring  the  little  fellow  and  showing  him 
to  the  cat,  who  wouldn't  approach  within  ten  feet  of  him, 
we  hove  it  overboard,  and  it  whizzed  screaming  away  to 

154 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

rejoin  its  companions,  who  now  follow  us  in  scores.     Lati- 
tude, 38°  12'  south  ;  longitude,  49°  35'  west. 

June  30 

The  bright  happy  weather  of  yesterday  has  given  place 
to  a  chill,  gloomy  day  with  half  a  gale  from  the  westward, 
while  the  ship  under  reefed  topsails  has  been  digging  into 
a  strong  head-sea  in  quite  a  violent  manner.  How  tender 
and  delicate,  so  to  speak,  even  the  best  and  largest  of 
wooden  vessels  really  are  !  For  instance,  at  nine  last  even- 
ing the  second  mate  said  that  he  thought  he  would  put  the 
gaskets  on  the  royals,  the  sky-sails  having  come  in  before 
supper. 

"What  on  earth  do  you  want  to  stow  the  royals  for?" 
said  I  ;   "  there  certainly  is  not  wind  enough  for  that. ' ' 

''No,  it's  not  thewmd,"  he  answered,  "but  this  sea's 
makin'  ahead,  and  she'll  strain  goin'  into  it  with  the  royals 
on  her." 

There  certainly  was  a  southerly  sea  runnmg,  but  the  ship 
was  diving  easily,  without  wrenching  or  pounding  ;  and  it 
surely  was  very  surprising  that  a  powerful  ship  like  this 
would  have  to  shorten  sail  for  such  a  swell.  "  And  that's 
just  the  great  point  in  favor  of  an  iron  ship,"  said  Mr. 
Rarx  ;  * '  you  can  drive  her  through  most  anything  and  not 
give  her  a  thought.  You  know  the  '  William  ].  Rotch'  ? 
We  opened  her  all  up  forrad  a-drivin'  of  her  into  a  head- 
sea  beatin'  up  the  Sea  of  Japan  trying  to  find  Willywood- 
stock  in  a  fog. ' ' 

"  Where's  that  place  ?     It's  new  to  me,"  said  I. 

"Siberia,"  was  his  reply;  and  it  was  not  until  some 
hours  afterward  that  I  grasped  his  meaning  ;  he  intended 
to  say  Vladivostok. 

As  the  night  wore  on  it  grew  squally,  and  at  three  in  the 
morning  the  fore-  and  maintop-sails  were  reefed,  while  at 

155 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

four  o'clock  the  massive  iron  hook  on  the  cross-jack-tack 
carried  away,  and  the  sail  was  saved  only  by  the  prompt 
and  good  work  of  both  watches.  I  awoke  in  the  midst  of 
the  operation,  and  above  the  boom  of  the  seas  we  could 
hear  the  skipper's  hurricane  voice  shouting,  "  Haul  away 
on  those  buntlines  ;  haul  away  on  those  buntlines ;  haul 

AWAY  ON  THOSE  BUNTLINES." 

At  five  yesterday  afternoon,  just  before  we  clewed  up  the 
sky-sails,  we  sailed  through  a  whole  fleet  of  albatrosses, 
feeding  quietly  on  the  water.  It  was  the  first  time  that  we 
had  seen  so  many  of  the  big  birds  at  rest  at  one  time,  and 
they  looked  very  large  and  dignified  as  they  rose  and  sunk 
upon  the  swell.  To  say  that  we  sailed  through  them  is  not 
strictly  correct,  though,  for  when  we  had  approached  to 
within  two  hundred  yards  or  so  they  rose  from  the  surface 
and  went  sailing  away  into  the  southwest.  It  is  always 
interesting  to  watch  them  rise  from  the  water,  flapping  their 
immense  wings,  each  two  yards  long,  and  rapidly  paddling 
with  feet  as  large  as  cabbage  leaves  to  gain  an  impetus  ; 
when,  the  wind  striking  beneath  their  pinions,  they  stow 
their  great  feet  somewhere  in  their  stern  feathers,  and  with 
a  couple  of  powerful  strokes  of  wing  away  they  soar  up  to 
windward  ;  and  you  can  watch  an  albatross  for  half  an  hour 
at  a  time  thereafter,  and  not  a  single  alar  movement  can  be 
discerned. 

The  Scottish  bosun  entertained  me  last  night  for  some 
time  in  drawing  comparisons  between  various  sailing  ships. 
I  asked  him  how  the  men  liked  it  here.  "  Why,  can't  you 
tell  ?' '  said  he.  ' '  They  don' t  like  it  at  all  ;  and  I  can  tell 
you  it' s  no  child' s  play  aboard  here.  Most  of  the  men,  you 
see,  have  come  out  of  British  ships,  where  they  don't  break 
men's  bones  with  clubs  or  their  hearts  with  drivin'." 

' '  If  you  like  British  ships  better  than  ours,  what  did  you 
sign  in  this  one  for  ?' '  I  asked. 

156 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

' '  Why  did  I  ?"  he  repHed.  * '  Why,  for  the  same  reason 
that  lots  of  others  do, — for  the  sake  o'  the  Snug  Harbor. 
Ye  see,  if  any  man  serves  five  years  in  American  ships  and 
can  prove  it,  he  can  end  his  days  in  peace  and  comfort  in 
the  Sailors'  Snug  Harbor  on  Staten  Island,  where  they  take 
care  of  him.  But,  say,  I  never  see  a  skipper  like  this  one 
before.  Has  he  slept  at  all  since  we  came  to  sea?  I'm 
hanged  if  I  think  so,  for  at  all  times  o'  the  night  the  first 
thing  you  know  there's  th'  old  man  standin'  within  two 
foot  of  you  on  the  main-deck,  like  a  black  spook.  Lord 
knows  how  he  gets  around,  /don't." 

To-day  we  attained  the  highest  southern  latitude  which 
my  wife  and  I  ever  reached,  as  on  our  first  voyage  around 
the  other  cape  39°  5'  was  the  southernmost  point.  Having 
crossed  the  fortieth  parallel,  we  have  also  probably  passed 
without  the  influence  of  the  river  Plate  region  ;  but  it  is  too 
bad  that  we  are  not  two  hundred  miles  farther  to  the  west- 
ward.    Latitude,  40°  31'  south  ;  longitude,  51°  10'  west. 

July  i 

Strong  winds  from  the  westward,  shifting  in  the  morning 
watch  to  southeast,  and  a  rough  sea  prevailed  up  to  noon 
to-day,  when  it  cleared  up,  a  persistent  rain  having  added 
its  portion  to  the  dreariness  of  the  weather.  At  five  this 
morning,  when  the  wind  shifted  to  the  southeast,  we  wore 
and  stood  in  shore  on  the  port  tack,  heeling  well  over  to 
a  strong  breeze.  Both  wind  and  sea  increased  as  the 
morning  advanced,  and  at  nine  we  had  to  take  some  of 
the  sails  off  the  ship.  And  here  mark  the  skipper's  per- 
versity :  at  this  particular  moment  we  were  in  quite  a  severe 
squall,  and  I  shouted  to  him,  "It's  breezing  all  the  time." 
"No,  it  ain't,"  he  replied,  harshly;  "the  wind's  lettin' 
go."  Ten  minutes  later  he  ordered  the  maintop-gallant- 
sail  to  be  clewed  up,  and  in  another  five  minutes  he  ordered 

157 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

in  the  spanker.  Anything  to  differ  from  me  and  express 
an  opinion  of  his  own,  even  if  he  has  to  act  against  it. 

After  these  two  sails  had  come  in  the  ship  was  easier, 
but  the  sea  was  making  very  rapidly,  and  in  another  hour 
we  were  taking  large  quantities  of  water  aboard.  It  was  a 
wild  sight  then  :  an  immense  squall  overhanging  us  and 
darkening  the  heavens  and  the  sea  ;  the  ship  enveloped  in 
clouds  of  whirling  spray  ;  the  driving  rain,  whipping  us 
with  the  sting  of  a  lash  ;  the  crash  of  a  sea  now  and  then 
against  the  forward  house  ;  and  the  flock  of  sea-birds  astern 
wheeling  and  diving  through  the  squall,  with  a  brace  of 
gaunt,  gray  albatrosses  sailing  calmly  along,  as  though  this 
were  a  tropic  zephyr. 

During  one  of  these  squalls  the  carpenter  was  observed 
at  w^ork  on  the  weather  side  of  the  forecastle-house,  dodging 
the  seas  as  each  gave  warning  of  its  approach  by  a  peculiar 
motion  just  before  it  broke  aboard,  which  one  soon  learns 
to  know.  We  were  beginning  to  think  that  if  he  didn'  t 
look  sharp  he  would  catch  it,  when  a  great  mass  of  water 
arose  alongside,  faltered  a  moment  high  up  above  the  rail, 
and  then,  with  overwhelming  fury,  the  whole  sea  thundered 
aboard.  First  it  flattened  Chips  out  against  the  deck- 
house as  though  he  had  been  crucified  against  it ;  then  it 
lifted  him,  mighty  man  though  he  is,  and  drove  him  with 
terrible  force  against  the  pumps  ;  while  the  huge  volume  of 
water,  encountering  the  various  obstacles  in  its  mad  career 
about  the  deck,  shot  into  the  air  as  high  as  the  mainyard, 
totally  blotting  out  the  waist  of  the  ship.  What  saved  that 
carpenter  from  mortal  hurt  is  beyond  human  ken.  The 
mate  says  that  it  was  his  sheathing  of  blubber  which  encases 
his  carcass  like  that  of  a  seal.  At  any  rate,  he  painfully 
gathered  up  his  clumsy,  massive  frame  and  stumbled  for- 
ward with  both  hands  on  his  left  leg,  which  proved  to  be 
very  badly  bruised,  and  he  complains  now  of  a  hard  pain  in 

158 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

his  chest.  This  was  by  far  more  water  than  we  have  had  on 
board  at  any  one  time,  and  it  is  difficult  to  conceive  of  the 
grandeur  of  such  a  sea  breaking  aboard,  though  it  is  an 
awful  sight  withal  ;  its  power  seems  resistless,  and  as  it 
sweeps  over  the  side  with  a  peculiar,  crushing  sound,  one 
involuntarily  grips  the  rail  or  a  belaying-pin  with  the  grasp 
of  a  vice. 

When  this  last  squall  had  passed,  lo  !  a  ship  to  wind- 
ward, and  I  was  again  the  first  to  sing  out  ' '  Sail  ho. ' '  There 
is  much  secret  pleasure  for  me  in  this  ;  for,  whenever  it  oc- 
curs, the  captain  always  walks  over  to  Mr.  Goggins,  who  is 
generally  wool-gathering  at  the  break  of  the  poop,  and 
asks  him  if  there  is  anything  in  sight.  *  *  Naw,  sir,  there 
hain't  nothin'.  Oh,  yes,  there's  a  sail  to  wind'ard,  sir, 
through  the  fog."  "Oh,  thanks,"  usually  answers  the 
skipper  ironically,  by  which  the  mate  knows  that  he's  been 
caught  again. 

Visions  of  the  ' '  Dowes' '  appeared  to  us  as  we  studied 
the  stranger  as  closely  as  the  flying  spray  and  rain  would 
permit,  the  ship  being  under  her  topsails  with  the  main-sail 
hauled  up.  Presently,  though,  we  saw  that  she  had  no  sky- 
sail-yards,  proving  that  she  was  not  our  friend  ;  while  her 
short,  thick,  pole  bowsprit  showed  that  she  was  doubtless  a 
metal  ship,  which  belief  was  later  confirmed  by  painted 
ports. 

At  noon  the  sun  burst  through  the  dense  pall  of  cloud, 
and  an  afternoon  of  dazzling  beauty  followed,  with  the 
good  old  "  Higgins"  surging  ahead  over  the  long,  blue, 
foaming  seas,  a  sky  of  sapphire  overhead,  dappled  with  a 
few  thin,  cirrus  clouds  and  a  grand  breeze  over  the  beam, 
giving  us  about  eight  knots  on  a  southwest-half-west  course. 
Just  at  noon  the  other  ship,  too,  presented  a  splendid  ap- 
pearance. To  begin  with,  she  was  a  very  handsome  vessel, 
and»had  so  altered  her  position  as  to  be  close  astern,  a  little 

159 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

on  our  weather  quarter,  distant  about  one-third  of  a  mile. 
Her  topsails  and  courses  (she  had  set  her  main-sail  and  cross- 
jack)  were  swelled  out  like  great  cylinders,  while  her  painted 
ports  lent  her  the  dignity  of  an  old-time  frigate  ;  and  she 
presented  to  us  a  perfect  ideal  of  the  poetry  of  motion  as 
she  rolled  deeply  but  easily,  now  sinking  into  a  valley  to 
her  lower  yards,  now  cleaving  the  lofty  crest  of  a  breaking 
sea  which  veiled  her  in  a  storm  of  spray. 

At  half-past  one  we  decided  to  signal  her,  and  ran  up 
our  number,  to  which  she  instantly  replied  that  she  was  the 
'  *  La  Pallice' ' ;  then  we  informed  her  that  we  were  from 
New  York  bound  to  San  Francisco,  fifty-one  days  out, 
while  she  proved  to  be  from  Hamburg  for  the  same  des- 
tination, and  was  fifty-nine  days  at  sea  ;  after  which  we 
dipped  our  ensign,  which  she  answered  with  the  tricolor  of 
France. 

We  are  reading  Nansen's  **  First  Crossing  of  Green- 
land" together  with  the  greatest  interest,  being  one  of  the 
most  charmingly  written  of  all  stories  of  Arctic  work.  What 
a  delightful  time  we  will  have  with  his  * '  Farthest  North' '  ! 
We  have  it  on  board,  but  I  am  waiting  till  we  pass  50° 
south,  so  that  we  can  read  it  in  a  part  of  the  world  almost 
as  rough  and  desolate  as  he  passed  over  in  his  great  journey. 
Latitude,  42°  24'  south  ;  longitude,  52°  36'  west. 

July  2 

We  had  a  good  breeze  from  the  south  all  last  night  and 
this  morning,  which  put  us  of?  to  about  west  by  south  ;  but, 
as  our  aim  for  the  past  four  or  five  days  has  been  to  make 
westing  rather  than  southing,  this  breeze  was  most  accept- 
able. The  strong  wind  of  yesterday  eased  up  in  the  second 
dog-watch  last  night,  and  we  carried  the  top-gallant- sails 
without  trouble  afterward. 

A  great  change  has  taken  place  in  the  temperature,  for 

160 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

at  eight  this  morning  the  thermometer  stood  at  38°  in  the 
air  and  47°  in  the  water, — a  fall  in  thirty-six  hours  of  15° 
in  the  atmosphere  and  16°  in  the  sea.  People  who  have 
never  been  exposed  for  consecutive  hours  to  a  temperature 
at  sea  of  between  30°  and  40°  can  have  no  just  idea  of  how 
penetratingly  cold  the  wind  is  when  the  mercury  drops 
below  40°,  or  of  how  many  clothes  it  is  necessary  to  wear 
if  one  wants  to  stay  on  deck  a  long  while  without  constant 
motion.  For  example,  I  have  on  now  two  suits  of  heavy 
underwear,  pilot-cloth  trousers,  a  heavy  jersey,  a  whip- 
cord waistcoat,  a  padded  leather  jacket,  and  a  mackintosh  ; 
the  costume  is  completed  with  mention  of  knitted  woollen 
gloves  and  socks  and  leather  boots  and  ditto  hat.  Now, 
there  are  numerous  brawny,  burly  individuals  who  will  ridi- 
cule this  mass  of  apparel,  and  insist  that  one  ought  to  keep 
moving,  which  would  make  it  unnecessary.  But  to  begin 
with,  our  promenade  is  here  limited  to  seventy-five  feet 
instead  of  several  hundred,  as  in  the  case  of  a  transatlantic 
steamer  ;  and,  besides,  I  have  not  that  maniac  passion  for 
pedestrianism  which  lays  so  fierce  a  hold  on  some  people 
the  instant  that  they  set  foot  upon  a  vessel's  deck.  When 
I  want  exercise,  half  an  hour  at  the  pumps,  even  in  cold 
weather,  is  sufificient  ;  and  I'll  warrant  that  it  would  be 
enough  for  the  brawny,  burly  individuals  before  noticed. 
Neither  of  us  came  to  sea  to  stay  below,  so  we  pile  on  suf- 
ficient clothes  to  repel  even  the  strongest  blasts,  and  can 
sit  comfortably  and  unruffled  for  hours  on  deck  without  a 
break. 

Points  in  connection  with  such  a  voyage  as  this  can  be 
learned  only  by  experience  ;  our  first  one  gave  us  all  that 
was  necessary,  so  that  we  knew  exactly  what  to  bring  with 
us  this  time.  A  leather  jacket  very  thickly  lined  is  almost 
inconceivably  useful,  as  are  a  pair  of  heavy  leather  knee- 
boots,  at  least  one  size  too  large,  to  allow  for  woollen  socks. 
II  161 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

Such  boots  well  greased  will  be  sufficiently  water-tight  for 
all  ordinary  purposes,  and  if  they  should  become  water- 
logged, they  can  always  be  dried  at  the  galley-fire  ;  rubber 
boots,  though,  should  never  be  omitted  from  the  sea  ward- 
robe. The  best  head-gear  is  a  woollen  cap  with  ear-flaps, 
and  a  sou'wester,  of  course,  for  bad  weather.  As  to  oil- 
skins, there  is  now  manufactured  a  water-proof  stuff,  which 
has  proved  in  this  case  to  be  everything  that  is  claimed  for 
it.  It  is  brown  in  color,  and  in  texture  much  like  a  mack- 
intosh, but  harder  to  the  touch,  and  is  in  two  pieces, — 
short  jacket  and  trousers.  These  suits  have  been  used 
in  the  life-saving  service  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  and  the 
only  objection  which  the  men  made  to  the  suits  was  that 
the  sand  cut  the  stuff  in  a  high  wind,  so  that  in  a  short 
time  it  became  quite  porous.  At  sea,  however,  I  have 
never  found  the  equal  of  one  of  these  suits  ;  and,  as  a  test, 
I  stood  for  two  hours  yesterday  in  drenching  rain  and  spray 
in  one  position,  so  as  to  allow  the  elements  full  continuous 
sweep  at  one  point,  and  when  we  went  below  the  inside  of 
the  jacket  was  not  even  damp.  A  long  oil-skin  coat  is  ex- 
tremely unwieldy  at  sea,  for  if  it  is  blowing  at  all  hard  the 
skirts  cling  to  the  legs  most  aggravatingly,  and  I  have  had 
some  hard  falls  by  being  thus  tripped.  All  mates  wear 
long  yellow  coats,  however,  and  I  wondered  why  until  yes- 
terday, when  I  asked  Mr.  Goggins  if  a  short  jacket  and 
pants  wouldn't  be  more  comfortable  ;  but  he  replied,  indig- 
nantly, "Wot  do  yer  think  I  am,  a  foremast  'and?"  It 
seemed  to  me  that  a  mate  who  has  to  wear  a  long  coat  to 
distinguish  him  from  an  ordinary  sailor  must  be  like  the 
man  who  tells  another  that  he  himself  is  a  gentleman, — he 
must  be  somewhat  in  doubt  about  it. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  this  treatise  on  deep-sea  garments 
has  not  proved  a  bore  ;  but  after  our  previous  voyage  so 
many  persons  asked  us  what  we  wore  in  bad  weather  in  the 

162 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

Southern  Ocean,  that  the  above  explanations  may  not  be 
out  of  place.  My  wife  dresses  much  as  she  would  for  golf, 
— a  short  skirt  and  leather  gaiters  for  clear,  cold  weather, 
with  yellow  oil-skins  when  it  rains  and  the  spray  flies. 

We  observed  some  further  fine  cloud  effects  to-day  a 
little  after  sunrise,  the  horizon  being  smothered  at  frequent 
intervals  w-ith  dense  squalls  ;  and  at  nine  o'clock  a  ponder- 
ous mass  of  cumulus  cloud  appeared  in  the  south,  rearing 
its  immense  domes  nearly  to  the  zenith,  like  heaps  of  yellow 
wool,  for  the  sun's  reflection  changed  the  color  of  the  great 
bank  to  that  of  rich  cream,  while  far  below,  at  the  base,  the 
cloud  shaded  ofl  into  a  dim,  sable  mass.  "There's  snow 
in  that  fellow,"  quoth  the  skipper,  which  was  certainly 
true,  for  ten  minutes  later  we  were  swallowed  up  in  a  thick 
snow-squall,  which  lasted  for  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes. 
Snow  seemed  to  be  a  singular  phenomenon  on  the  second 
of  July,  not  to  mention  the  biting  cold.  Latitude  43°  8' 
south  ;  longitude,  56°  45'  west. 

July  3 

This  morning  broke  with  a  clear  sky  and  little  or  no 
wind,  and  when  the  sun  came  up  fine  and  rosy,  he  looked 
over  the  rim  of  the  horizon  across  an  azure  sea  just  crinkled 
by  a  faint  westerly  breeze.  Light  as  it  was,  though,  there 
was  a  biting  sting  in  it  w^hich,  before  breakfast,  set  the 
teeth  chattering  and  raised  one's  knuckles  into  big  gristly 
knobs.  The  broad  sweep  of  the  South  Atlantic  was  well- 
nigh  motionless,  for  it  was  only  at  considerable  intervals  that 
a  slight  swell  came  sighing  up  from  the  Antarctic,  and  the 
sea  was  as  calm  as  off  Newport  in  August.  Clothes  sus- 
pended against  the  walls  hung  without  motion,  and  we 
might  well  ha\'e  fancied  ourselves  in  Long  Island  Sound  ; 
as  for  the  day,  it  was  cloudless  save  for  an  occasional  snow 
flurry,  which  lasted  only  a  few  minutes.     This  clear,  cold, 

163 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

merry  weather  at  sea  is  indescribably  charming,  though,  no 
doubt,  the  men  would  tell  a  different  tale,  for  Olsen  and 
Jacquin,  who  were  mending  an  old  fine-weather  royal  on 
the  cabin-house  this  morning,  had  to  knock  off  work  now 
and  then  to  beat  some  feeling  into  their  stiffened  fingers 
before  they  could  drive  the  needles  through  the  canvas. 

As  we  draw  nearer  and  nearer  to  Cape  Horn  the  men 
are  daily  growing  very  anxious  to  know  the  ship's  position, 
and  as  I  am,  of  course,  the  only  individual  on  board  who 
will  gratify  their  curiosity,  they  often  ask  me  several  times 
a  day.  Frequently,  on  the  main-deck,  a  man  will  ask 
what  the  position  is  in  a  very  low  tone,  after  a  careful 
scrutiny  round  about  to  see  that  none  of  the  after-guard  is 
hard  by.  Sometimes,  as  I  pass  by  the  wheel-house,  I  am 
assailed  in  a  raven's  whisper  with,  "  Say,  mister,  what's  the 
latitood  ?' '  and  their  pleasure  at  being  told  is  quite  child- 
like. A  passenger  on  a  sailing  ship,  by  the  way,  is  seldom, 
if  ever,  called  by  his  name  ;  he  is  simply  * '  mister. ' '  Of 
course,  in  a  general  way,  sailors  often  get  an  idea  of  the 
approach  of  land  from  the  discoloration  of  the  water,  the 
increase  in  the  number  of  vessels  sighted,  and  the  presence 
of  land-birds  ;  but  the  average  sailor  probably  couldn't  tell 
within  much  less  than  a  thousand  miles  of  where  he  is  on  a 
voyage  like  this.  Even  a  second  mate  is  generally  very 
much  in  the  dark  on  this  subject,  for  he  is  never  a  naviga- 
tor on  American  ships,  as  he  ought  to  be,  and  keeps  no 
reckoning.  We  have  often  seen  Mr.  Rarx  go  up  to  the 
mate  and  hint  in  various  ways  that  he  would  like  to 
know  the  ship's  position  at  noon.  The  mate  sometimes 
tells  him  ;  but  Mr.  Rarx  is  too  good  a  seaman  to  stand 
well  with  such  a  man  as  the  mate,  who  does  not  know 
very  much  more  of  that  art  than  some  of  the  sailors.  Be- 
sides, it  might  get  to  the  men  through  one  of  the  bosuns, 
which  would  be  truly  horrible  and  unspeakable  ;  therefore, 

164 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

unless  there  is  a  passenger  aboard,  sailors  live  in  almost 
blank  ignorance  of  their  whereabouts  throughout  a  four  or 
five  months'  voyage. 

The  bosun  of  the  port-watch,  big  MacFoy,  has  been 
limping  badly  for  several  days,  his  left  foot  being  so  se- 
verely mashed  and  swollen  that  he  cannot  bear  even  a  loose 
rubber  boot  on  it.  This  is  the  result  of  a  sea  which  fell 
upon  him  one  night  at  the  weather  forebraces.  It  slung 
him  across  the  deck  and  jammed  his  foot  against  a  fife-rail 
stanchion,  but  luckily  broke  no  bones.  I  have  promised  to 
give  him  a  glass  of  grog  to-morrow,  the  Fourth  of  July, 
but  exceeding  caution  will  have  to  be  exercised  lest  I  be 
apprehended  by  the  powers. 

Yesterday  the  main-spencer  was  rigged,  and  as  this  is  a 
heavy-weather  sail,  a  description  of  it  may  prove  of  interest. 
It  is  otherwise  known  as  a  storm-try-sail,  and,  being  a  fore- 
and  aft-sail,  is  set  on  the  main  lower  mast.  A  number  of 
stout  screw-eyes  were  driven  into  the  mast,  extending  from 
a  point  about  eight  feet  above  the  deck  to  an  iron  band 
three  feet  below  the  top  ;  through  these  eyes  an  iron  rod 
was  inserted,  and  to  this  rod  the  sail  was  laced.  A  standing- 
gaff  was  then  rigged,  furnished  with  hoops,  to  which  the 
head  of  the  sail  was  bent,  the  method  of  setting  being  by 
hauling  it  out  on  the  gafi,  like  the  fore-  and  aft-sails  on 
steamers.  It  is  forty-four  feet  long  on  the  luf?  and  twenty- 
two  on  the  gaff,  and  is,  of  course,  of  No.  o  duck,  with  a 
bolt-rope  nearly  as  big  as  the  fore-tack.  The  spencer  is 
what  is  known  as  a  steadying  sail  in  bad  weather,  and  is 
usually  set  after  the  courses  have  all  been  hauled  up  and 
the  ship  is  head-reaching  under  the  lower  topsails,  or  when 
the  ship  is  regularly  hove  to. 

There  was  a  very  turbulent  scene  enacted  while  the  sail 
was  being  bent.  The  mate  was  aloft,  swinging  over  the 
rim  of  the  top  in  a  bowline,  trying  to  fit  the  end  of  the  gaff 

165 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

into  a  gooseneck,  both  man  and  spar  flying  wildly  about 
as  the  ship  rolled.  Two  vangs  led  down  from  the  gaff-end 
to  the  deck,  one  on  either  side,  while  a  man  on  each,  try- 
ing to  hold  it  steady,  was  jerked  about  like  the  tail  of  a 
kite.  The  mate  was  already  in  a  passion,  for  no  sooner 
would  he  have  the  end  nearly  in  the  socket  than  away  it 
would  fly,  while  he  himself  brought  to  with  a  thump  against 
the  futtock-shrouds.  At  this  juncture  Captain  Scruggs 
appeared  with  his  sextant.  It  was  the  signal  for  chaos. 
Everthing  almost  immediately  was  plunged  into  inextrica- 
ble confusion.  Something  had  manifestly  gone  wrong  with 
the  old  man  below,  for  he  was  bristling  when  he  laid  down 
his  instrument  on  the  deck-house  and  walked  with  fore- 
boding leisure  to  the  break  of  the  poop.  You  could  see 
that  he  was  seething  within  himself  ;  but  for  some  time  he 
appeared  totally  unconscious  of  the  mate,  the  spencer,  and 
everything  else  ;  but  when  the  gaff  drew  off  and  smote  the 
taut  weather-shrouds  with  the  force  of  a  steam-hammer,  he 
thought  it  was  time  to  take  a  hand.  Did  the  mate  give  an 
order  he  would  instantly  countermand  it,  sandwiching  in 
sarcastic  remarks,  such  as,  ''Ah,  that's  beautiful  !  You'd 
make  a  master-rigger,  you  would.  Think  you'll  git  that 
in  by  dark  ?  I  could  put  the  whole  main-mast  in  while 
you're  scratchin'  away  up  there."  At  these  pleasantries 
old  Goggins  fairly  snarled  and  bared  his  teeth  in  devilish 
grins,  but  kept  silent.  At  last,  seeing  a  chance,  he  bawled 
to  the  man  below  who  was  surging  up  on  the  rope, 
' '  Lower  away  smart,  now. "  *  *  Hoist  away,  there, ' '  im- 
mediately cried  the  skipper.     Behold  the  fatal  straw  on  the 

dromedary.      "  '  Ow  in  the  name  o'  G am  Hi  to  do  this, 

Cap'n  Scruggs,  if  you  don't  let  me  alone?"  And  then 
they  went  at  it  like  Kilkenny  cats,  so  that  the  air  quivered 
with  blasphemous  discharges.  It  was  quite  astonishing  to 
hear  the  mate  answer  back  with  such  intrepid  vehemence, 

1 66 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

and  they  kept  it  up  so  long  that  the  captain  lost  his  sight  ; 
for  when  he  removed  his  sextant  the  sun  was  falling,  which 
didn't  add  very  much  to  the  geniality  of  his  temper. 
Scenes  of  this  sort  are  heralded  with  the  most  intense  joy 
by  the  men,  who  turn  their  heads  away  to  hide  faces  which 
actually  glisten  with  delight.  Latitude,  43°  13'  south  ; 
longitude,  58°  24'  west. 

July  4 

We  celebrated  Independence  Day  not  with  pyrotechnical 
demonstrations,  but  with  a  remarkable  barometric  perform- 
ance :  it  fell  seven-tenths  of  an  inch  in  ten  hours,  from 
30.40  to  29.70,  and  this  with  an  ugly  look  to  windward. 
The  breeze  began  to  freshen  late  yesterday  afternoon,  and 
at  five  o'clock  in  came  the  fore-  and  mizzen-royals.  At 
table,  the  various  utensils  suddenly  began  to  jump  about, 
which  was  very  astonishing,  inasmuch  as  the  sea  was  al- 
most perfectly  quiet  half  an  hour  earlier.  The  breeze  kept 
on  making,  and  when  we  came  up  from  supper,  at  six 
o'clock,  the  captain  ordered  the  main-royal-  and  mizzen- 
top-gallant-sail  clewed  up.  At  this  time  the  ship  was  diving 
heavily,  and  it  was  time  to  take  the  fore-  and  maintop- 
gallants  off  her,  too  ;  the  skipper  had  just  concluded  to  furl 
them,  when,  with  a  great  weltering  plunge,  the  ship  pushed 
her  lofty  flaring  bows  completely  under  a  coaming  sea,  and 
then  instantly  rearing  back,  the  enormous  mass  of  water 
was  projected  with  terrific  force  against  the  forward  end  of 
the  forecastle-house.  It  smashed  the  lee  door  like  card- 
board, though  it  was  three  inches  thick,  and  then  washed 
aft  like  a  Hooghly  bore,  absolutely  filling  the  lee  decks  to 
the  rail  with  solid  water, — that  is,  it  was  six  feet  deep  in 
the  scuppers,  and  it  seemed  incredible  that  any  bulwarks 
could  withstand  the  strain  ;  yet  the  water  ran  off  in  a  few 
minutes,  leaving  no  further  trace  of  its  power  than  a  snarled 

167 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

mass  of  running  gear  which  had  been  Hfted  off  the  pins. 
Good  luck  that  the  lookout  had  just  been  ordered  to  the  top 
of  the  house  instead  of  the  forecastle-head,  or  there  wouldn't 
have  been  much  of  him  left  after  that  sea  had  struck  him. 

The  forecastle,  though,  was  a  spectacle  indeed.  Its 
doors  open  forward,  which  no  sailor  likes  ;  and  when  the 
big  sea  came  from  dead  ahead  and  stove  the  lee  door,  the 
water  poured  into  the  house  in  thousands  of  gallons.  It 
stood  a  foot  deep  on  the  floor,  and  shot  up  violently  to  the 
carlines  at  every  roll,  washing  the  men's  bedding  out  of 
even  the  topmost  bunks  (they  are  always  built  in  three 
tiers,  one  above  the  other),  while  their  chests  went  banging 
about  in  the  deep  water,  the  majority  of  them  burst  open, 
and  others  broken  all  to  pieces.  The  sills  of  the  doors  on 
all  ships  opening  on  the  main-deck  are  usually  about  eigh- 
teen inches  high,  to  prevent  the  entrance  of  water,  if  possi- 
ble ;  but  if,  as  in  this  case,  a  great  quantity  finds  its  way 
into  the  forecastle,  these  very  sills  prevent  its  egress.  To 
be  sure,  there  are  leaders  which  are  supposed  to  draw  the 
water  off,  but  they  are  so  small  that  more  than  an  hour 
passed  before  all  the  brine  had  disappeared.  How  sorrow- 
ful and  helpless  the  poor  fellows  looked  as  they  surveyed 
their  drenched  clothes  and  broken  chests  !  and,  worse  than 
all,  the  dank,  soaked  forecastle.  It  means  more  suffering 
and  privation  than  landsmen  have  any  idea  of,  for  the  men 
will  have  to  sleep  in  soggy,  clammy,  mildewed  bunks  for 
at  least  a  month.  No  forecastle  ever  dries  off  Cape  Horn, 
on  account  of  the  intense  humidity  of  that  region  ;  and 
even  if  the  forecastle  has  a  stove  in  it,  it  doesn't  dry  things 
out,  but  calls  forth  instead  a  rank  steam  from  the  reeking 
walls,  which  pervades  the  room  like  a  foul  mist. 

All  this  time  the  glass  had  been  falling,  and  we  looked 
for  bad  weather  ;  the  captain  had  the  main-sail  hauled  up, 
and  in  every  way  stood  by  for  a  heavy  blow.     But  we 

1 68 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

worked  out  a  false  reckoning,  for  the  wind  shortly  after- 
ward let  go  more  than  half,  while  the  aneroid  rose  to  29.85, 
where  it  is  now.  Since  six  o'  clock  this  morning  we  have 
been  about  six  points  off  our  course,  with  the  wind  at 
south-southwest  ;  therefore  the  captain  once  more  wrapped 
himself  in  his  mantle  of  wrath,  and  throughout  dinner  kept 
mumbling  continuously  to  himself  concerning  the  proba- 
bility of  there  being  a  Jonah  on  board.  This  was  not  the 
first  time  that  he  has  hinted  at  such  things,  and,  though 
we  knew  well  that  he  meant  us,  I  didn't  say  anything,  but 
let  him  growl  on.  It  is  almost  impossible  to  conceive  how 
unpleasant  it  is  to  be  considered  a  Jonah  aboard  ship  ;  it  is 
easy  to  say,  * '  What's  the  use  of  paying  any  attention  to  it  ?' ' 
But  you  can't  help  heeding  it,  though  it  is  only  superstition, 
and  the  eyes  of  every  one  on  board  aft  seem  to  say,  '  *  Look 
at  the  Jonah."  Foremast  hands  do  not  care  how  long 
they  are  at  sea  if  they  get  decent  food  and  even  passably 
good  treatment  ;  indeed,  the  saying  among  them  is,  ' '  More 
days,  more  dollars."  Still,  in  spite  of  everything  we  are 
reminded  of  that  dismal  verse  in  the  "  Ancient  Mariner,  "- 

*'  One  by  one,  by  the  star-dogged  moon, 
Too  quick  for  groan  or  sigh, 
Each  turned  his  face  with  a  ghastly  pang 
And  cursed  me  with  his  eye." 

There  is  another  cause,  however,  for  the  skipper's  bad 
temper  ;  yesterday  we  slaughtered  our  first  pig,  and  at  all 
three  meals  to-day  we  had  fresh  pork.  Captain  Scruggs 
caused  prodigious  quantities  of  it  to  disappear  and  has 
been  in  anguish  ever  since.  Indeed,  it  is  hard  to  imagine 
anything  edible  which  will  so  upset  one's  digestion  as 
fresh  pork  at  sea  ;  it  is  bad  enough  ashore,  where  plenty 
of  exercise  is  to  be  had,  but  aboard  ship  one  hearty  meal 
of  pork  freshly  killed  will  cause  an  incredible  amount  of 

169 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

distress.  The  skipper  instanced  an  illustration  of  how- 
difficult  it  is  to  digest  at  sea  :  on  the  last  outward  voyage 
he  killed  a  pig  just  before  he  reached  San  Francisco,  and, 
the  weather  being  too  warm  to  keep  the  meat  sweet,  most 
of  it  was  given  to  the  sailors.  Now,  these  men  can  digest 
sour,  soggy  bread  and  salt  beef  like  ironwood,  yet  this 
fresh  pork  vanquished  them,  and  five  men  were  actually 
laid  up  in  their  bunks  at  the  end  of  the  second  day. 

Had  many  severe  hail-squalls  during  the  last  twenty-four 
hours,  but  fine  weather  otherwise,  sharp  and  clear.  Lati- 
tude, 44°  41'  south  ;  longitude,  59°  58'  west. 

Julys 

Very  light  southerly  airs  and  a  calm  sea  have  added 
vastly  to  our  surprise  at  such  weather  off  Patagonia.  How 
remarkable  it  is  to  find  these  gentle,  variable  winds  here, 
when  the  popular  notion  of  this  region  is  a  continuous 
westerly  gale  !  Findlay's  "  South  Atlantic  Directory," 
however,  indicates  generally  fine  weather  from  40°  to  50° 
south  near  the  laiid,  and  this  has  been  our  skipper's  almost 
invariable  experience,  except  that  the  wind  ought  to  be  to 
the  northward  instead  of  to  the  southward  of  west ;  at  the 
present  moment,  though,  the  breeze  shows  signs  of  hauling 
to  the  northward  with  the  sun,  instead  of  against,  so  per- 
haps it  will  stop  there  for  a  while.  The  wind  has  been  so 
light  and  contrary  for  the  twenty-four  hours,  that  in  that 
period  we  made  only  eight  miles  of  latitude  and  seven  of 
longitude  ! 

My  wife  and  I  have  finished  reading  Nansen's  "  First 
Crossing  of  Greenland, ' '  and  during  its  perusal  we  learned 
some  remarkable  facts.  For  instance,  it  is  strange  how  the 
body  craves  fat  or  grease  of  any  sort  when  deprived  of  it 
for  a  long  while  ;  and  it  is  also  very  odd  to  read  that  a 
lump  of  butter  eaten  alone  slakes  the  thirst  of  men  in  the 

170 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

Arctic  regions  !  I  wonder  why  Nansen  doesn't  undertake 
the  ascent  of  Mount  Everest  ?  It  seems  to  me  that  he, 
with  all  his  strength  and  vitality,  would  be  peculiarly  well 
fitted  for  such  an  expedition,  not  to  mention  his  being  a 
man  of  science.  How  much  interest  the  writings  of  Sir 
Joseph  Hooker  would  lack  if  that  great  mountaineer  had 
not  been  a  scientist  !  The  amount  of  risk  to  Nansen,  too, 
in  comparison  with  an  Arctic  voyage,  would  be  very  small  ; 
while  the  glory  of  being  the  first  to  stand  upon  the  topmost 
pinnacle  of  the  earth's  surface  could  be  dwarfed  only  by 
the  attainment  of  the  Pole  itself.  I  have  loaned  the  second 
mate  the  Greenland  book,  as  Mr.  Rarx  is  deeply  interested 
in  such  work,  and  is  desirous  of  joining  an  expedition  to  the 
North  Pole.  He  fears  not  being  able  to  pass  the  physical 
tests  necessary  before  becoming  a  member  of  the  crew,  but 
as  he  has  considerable  knowledge  of  the  Peary  Greenland 
expedition,  it  is  my  notion  that  he  tried  to  join  it,  but  was 
rejected  ;  and  as  he  laid  stress  on  the  fact  that  no  one  would 
be  taken  who  had  any  old  scars  on  his  person,  it  is  not  un- 
likely that  he  was  barred  for  this  reason.  Considering  his 
lean,  powerful  frame,  he  ought  to  be  well  able  to  endure 
hardships. 

Looking  at  the  spencer,  which  is,  of  course,  brailed  up  in 
such  light  weather,  Mr.  Rarx  said,  "Oh,  those  are  great 
sails  !  Wait  till  it's  blowin'  and  she  under  that  and  the 
topsails  !  They'll  stand  a  power  o'  wind,  but  I've  seen 
'em  blown  away.  I  was  second  mate  of  a  Nova  Scotia 
ship,  the  'Mary  L.  Burrill,'  a  few  years  ago,  and  we 
were  bound  across  this  time  from  Greenock  to  St.  John  in 
February,  which  it  isn't  necessary  for  me  to  say  anything 
more  about  the  weather.  We'd  be'n  lyin'  to  for  twenty 
hours  under  a  goose-winged  maintop-sail  and  spencer  when 
the  wind  all  at  once  rose  to  a  perfect  hurricane  and  hove 
us  down  to  the  hatches.     And  then  the  maintop-sail  and 

17 1 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

that  there  spencer,  sir,  nearly  as  hard  and  thick  as  a  plank, 
flew  away  like  a  muslin  handkercheef  ;  and  though  we  had 
double  gaskets  on  all  the  sails,  four  of  '  em  was  blown  loose 
and  ripped  off  the  yards  like  paper.  Now,  it's  blowin' 
pretty  hard  when  a  lower  maintop-sail  goes,  but  nothin' 
short  of  a  hurricane  can  budge  a  new  spencer.  But  no 
canvas  ever  made  will  stand  a  North  Atlantic  midwinter 
gale,  and  you  hear  me.  We  sighted  a  big  White  Star 
freighter  this  day,  and  she  afterward  reported  the  wind 
eighty  miles  an  hour  between  the  squalls  ;  not  in  'em,  mind. 
And  if  you  want  to  see  somethin'  to  put  joy  in  your  heart, 
you  ought  to  see  these  big  White  Star  steamers  in  a  heavy 
gale  !  I  saw  the  *  Cufic'  once  comin'  across  in  another 
cyclone  in  the  'J.  B.  Walker,'  and  the  way  she  kept  clear 
of  the  seas  was  a  caution.  I'm  a  good  enough  American, 
but  you  can' t  beat  Harland  and  Wolff  very  much. ' ' 

Mr.  Rarx  is  an  infinitely  more  agreeable  man  to  talk  to 
than  the  mate,  who  is  the  longest-winded  and  most  tire- 
some old  porpoise  who  ever  spun  a  yarn.  His  only  rec- 
ommendations are  his  hideousness,  which  is  positively  at- 
tractive, and  his  strange,  absurd  facial  contortions  when  he 
doesn't  intend  to  be  funny.  Sometimes  during  the  first 
watch,  when  it  is  very  dark,  with  the  exception  of  the  bin- 
nacle lamp  which  casts  its  rays  upon  him  as  he  crosses  its 
path,  he  is  actually  weird-looking.  His  voice,  too,  is  as 
husky  as  a  rusty  hinge  now,  owing  to  a  severe  cold,  and 
last  night  he  vented  some  curious  statements.  Neither 
of  us  had  said  a  word  for  maybe  five  minutes,  I  watching 
the  compass  card,  he  grinning  and  mouthing  to  himself 
in  the  moonlight.  Presently  he  wormed  himself  over  to 
where  I  stood,  looked  earnestly  at  me  a  few  seconds  and 
croaked, — 

*  *  You'  11  see  plenty  of  people  in  California  with  no 
teeth." 

172 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

"  How  is  that?"  said  I. 

"  Dunno,"  he  repHed  ;  "  they  do  say  it's  the  climate  ; 
anyhow,  you'll  see  lots  with  nothin'  but  gums." 

Then  he  crawled  back  to  the  other  side,  performed  some 
further  silent,  facial  acrobatics,  returned,  and  wheezed  out 
mysteriously,  "  You'll  be  bothered  with  fleas  there  ;  they're 
that  plenty  I  always  has  a  regular  quadrille  with  'em." 

A  remarkable  habit  the  captain  has  at  table  of  asking 
the  mate  if  he  won't  have  some  of  everything  in  sight  ; 
no  matter  how  many  dishes  there  may  be  on  the  board, 
the  skipper  always  gazes  fiercely  at  him  for  a  moment,  and 
then  says  rapidly  and  severely,  ' '  Have  some  of  the  salt 
meat,  Mr.  Goggins  ?  Have  some  beans  ?  Have  some 
potatoes?  Have  some  bread?  Have  some  sparrow- 
grass  ?' '  All  this  in  one  breath,  to  which  the  mate 
answers,  **  A  leetle,  if  you  please,  sir  ;"  or  if  it's  a  second 
asking,  which  is  merely  form,  he  replies  with  his  droning, 
*'No-o-o,  sir,  I  thank  you,  sir;  I've  'ad  sufificient,  sir,  I 
thank  you,  sir,"  as  though  to  show  how  he  is  depriving 
himself,  for  he  insists  that  it  is  vulgar  to  enjoy  eating  ! 

Sometimes  the  old  creature  corners  my  wife  and  me  and 
entertains  us  with  anecdotes  of  his  acquaintances  in  San 
Francisco  and  how  excessively  numerous  his  influential 
friends  are  there.  He  will  tell  us  that  '  Arry  Dolan  is  now 
getting  seventy-five  dollars  a  month  at  the  Union  Iron 
Works  ;  and  when  we  venture  the  opinion  that  he  must 
be  a  rising  young  man,  he  answers,  "Oh,  'Arry's  all 
right.  Why,  I  knew  him  w'en  he  was  gettin'  only  three 
dollars  a  week  at  the  Works. ' '  Here  generally  follows  a 
genealogical  history  of  the  Dolans  for  several  generations, 
while  their  individual  characteristics  become  the  subject  of 
minute  discussion. 

Well,  we're  beating  slowly,  slowly,  down  the  inhospita- 
ble shores  of  Patagonia,  and  our  luck  doesn'  t  seem  to  be 

173 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

much  better  than  it  was  in  the  southeast  Trades.     Lati- 
tude, 44°  49'  south  ;  longitude,  60°  5'  west. 

July  6 

If  our  nautical  instruments  had  not  assured  us  that  we 
were  at  noon  in  about  45°  south,  distant  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  miles  from  Cape  Dos  Bahios,  we  might  easily 
have  imagined  the  ship  to  be  lying  of^  Staten  Island  in 
New  York  Harbor.  We  never  but  once  before  saw  the 
sea  so  free  from  swell,  and  that  was  in  the  Indian  Ocean, 
thirty-four  miles  south  of  the  equator  ;  which  position  we 
not  only  held  for  twenty-four  hours,  but  during  that  entire 
period  no  one  perceived  the  least  motion  in  the  ship.  It 
is  true  that  to-day  we  made  nearly  one  hundred  miles  ; 
but  from  eight  till  eleven  this  forenoon  we  were  motionless 
on  the  water,  while  a  stage  was  slung  over  the  stern  a  foot 
from  the  surface,  on  which  the  mate  and  the  carpenter 
worked  for  two  hours  on  the  rudder-head  ;  it  is  only  once 
or  twice  during  an  entire  voyage  that  a  vessel  for  hours  at 
a  time  will  not  rise  and  fall  twelve  inches.  To  us  it  is 
really  a  remarkable  experience  to  thus  float  silently  along 
within  three  hundred  and  fifty  miles  of  the  Falklands, 
though  the  skipper  says,  "Well,  I  told  you  we'd  have 
light  weather  north  of  50°." 

At  noon  to-day,  however,  the  western  sky  indicated  a 
breeze,  and  presently  a  little  breath  stole  ever  so  gently 
over  the  quiet  ocean,  scarcely  curling  the  smooth,  level  plane 
of  the  sea  ;  and,  gradually  freshening,  the  ship  gathered 
steerage  way  in  five  minutes  or  so  and  began  to  lazily  move 
ahead  through  a  large  flock  of  Cape  pigeons  which  had 
settled  to  feed  in  great  numbers  during  the  calm,  though 
we  could  percei\-e  nothing  edible  in  the  water.  The  birds 
seemed  to  delight  in  the  breeze  as  much  as  we  did,  for  in 
light  weather  they  seldom  rise  higher  than  a  few  feet  above 

174 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

the  surface,  lacking  the  force  of  wind  which  enables  them 
to  rise  easily  ;  as  in  a  strong  breeze  they  make  no  further 
effort  than  to  guide  themselves,  rising  and  falling  without 
movement  of  wing.  A  huge,  hoary  albatross,  a  perfect  old 
patriarch,  has  been  with  us  all  day,  skimming  over  the  water 
so  closely  as  to  touch  it  occasionally  with  his  breast,  and 
seldom  more  than  a  foot  from  it.  It  is  wonderful  that  they 
can  maintain  so  close  and  uniform  a  flight  to  the  surface, 
without  movement  and  in  a  calm. 

The  day  before  yesterday,  being  more  exasperated  than 
ever  before  at  the  skipper's  continuous  grumbling  at  the 
weather,  I  told  him  that  I  thought  that  he  asked  altogether 
too  much  in  demanding  a  fair  wind  all  the  time,  and  that 
when  a  man  began  a  voyage  he  ought  to  expect  more  or 
less  head-winds  throughout  the  passage,  for  they  were  to 
be  expected  anywhere  and  at  any  minute  at  sea  during  a 
whole  voyage,  even  in  the  Trades.  Since  then  he  hasn't 
said  a  word  against  the  weather,  and  is,  for  him,  extremely 
agreeable.  Heavens,  how  hairy  he  is  !  So  thickly  covered 
is  his  whole  face  that  the  only  visible  bare  spots  are  his  nose 
and  eyes  ;  for  his  beard  grows  right  up  over  his  cheek- 
bones, and  his  eyebrows  seem  to  be  spreading  all  over  his 
forehead.  So  dense  are  his  whiskers  that  when  he  comes 
on  deck  after  a  session  with  his  Dutch  pipe  the  smoke  can 
still  be  seen  eddying  and  seething  in  his  beard. 

Last  evening  as  we  were  reading  some  of  Kipling's  de- 
lightful sea-poems  the  skipper  called  down  and  asked 
whether  we  wouldn't  like  to  see  a  lunar  rainbow.  We 
went  on  deck  at  once,  and  there,  sure  enough,  was  a  perfect 
specimen  of  this  strange  phenomenon,  and  so  clearly  de- 
fined that  the  brighter  colors  were  distinctly  visible.  We 
had  seen  but  one  lunar  rainbow  before,  and  that  was  a  very 
faint  one  in  the  Bay  of  Bengal,  about  one  hundred  miles 
from  the  Sandheads. 

175 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that,  like  captains,  there  are  compara- 
tively few  foremast  hands  who  remain  perfectly  strong  and 
well  throughout  a  long  passage.  At  least  eight  of  ours 
are  looking  quite  seedy,  some  with  bad  colds,  others  with 
various  disorders  of  liver  and  stomach,  so  that  they  have 
to  be  doctored  and  fixed  up  with  an  assortment  of  medi- 
cines. The  way  that  five-grain  blue-mass  pills  fly  around 
on  a  deep-water  ship  is  a  caution  ;  one  would  think  they 
were  peppermint  drops.  Latitude  45°  20'  south  ;  longi- 
tude 62°  10'  west. 

July  7 

What  a  change  can  be  wrought  at  sea  in  a  few  hours  ! 
At  eleven  yesterday  morning  we  were  motionless  upon  a 
glassy  sea  ;  eight  hours  later  we  were  rushing  southward 
under  the  topsails  before  a  moderate  gale  ! 

' '  And  now  the  storm-blast  came,  and  he 
Was  tyrannous  and  strong  ; 
He  struck  with  his  o'ertaking  wings, 
And  chased  us  south  along." 

Throughout  yesterday  afternoon  the  breeze  steadily 
freshened,  and  by  four  o'clock  the  sky-sails  had  been 
stowed,  followed  at  five  by  the  royals,  while  after  supper 
the  gaskets  were  put  on  the  three  top-gallant-sails  and  the 
cross-jack  was  hauled  up  ;  the  ship  logging  exactly  twelve 
knots  between  six  and  seven  o'clock,  the  best  which  we 
have  done  yet,  the  wind  being  true  and  steady  from  west- 
northwest,  a  little  abaft  the  beam.  I  have  seldom  seen  a 
finer  sight  than  that  presented  by  the  ship  as  she  went 
bounding  away  south  by  west  before  this  grand  breeze 
blowing  straight  off  the  pampas  of  Patagonia  ;  the  moon, 
now  at  first  quarter,  casting  a  broad  wake  of  silver  ra- 
diance over  the  short,  steep,  foaming  seas  which  had  arisen 
as  though  by  magic,  and  were  already  snarling  and  show- 

176 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

ing  their  teeth  up  above  the  weather-quarter.  By  ten 
o'clock  the  spray  had  begun  to  bury  the  waist  of  the  ship 
once  more,  while  at  intervals  during  the  night  a  deep, 
heavy  boom  told  us  that  something  beside  mere  spray  was 
tumbling  over  the  weather-side. 

When  we  went  on  deck  this  morning  there  was  no  dimi- 
nution in  the  wind,  though  it  had  shifted  into  the  west  ; 
but  as  the  captain  had  kept  off  to  south,  it  was  still  on  the 
beam.  The  maintop-mast-stay-sail  had  been  set,  and  we 
found  the  watch  in  the  act  of  hauling  out  the  spencer  on 
the  gaf^,  and  we  presently  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing 
this  piece  of  canvas  in  actual  use  for  the  first  time.  Its  cut 
was  excellent,  and,  together  with  the  stay-sail,  steadied  the 
ship  wonderfully.  The  main-sail  was  reefed,  so  that  the 
arch  of  this  great  sail,  which  curved  over  the  ship  like  the 
crescent  of  the  moon,  was  fully  thirty  feet  above  the  deck. 
Although  still  carrying  the  six  topsails  and  the  foresail,  we 
were  not  taking  anything  but  huge  volumes  of  spray 
aboard,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  surface  of  the  ocean 
to  windward  showed  long,  parallel  streaks  of  foam,  like  the 
cross-section  of  a  rasher  of  bacon, — an  appearance  observed 
only  when  it  is  really  blowing  hard. 

When  one  has  been  accustomed  to  the  heavy,  rigid  main- 
sails of  yachts,  a  ship's  canvas  in  comparison  (bar  the  spen- 
cer) appears  to  be,  and  really  is,  singularly  thin  and  limp. 
Even  a  brand-new  foresail  or  main-sail  of  a  square-rigger 
cannot  at  all  approach  in  thickness  or  rigidity  a  yacht's 
canvas  ;  and  it  could  not  for  a  moment  withstand  the  strain 
to  which  the  latter' s  main-sail  is  subjected  while  being 
stretched  on  the  boom  and  gaf^,  not  to  mention  the  *  *  sweat- 
ing" up  of  the  sails  with  the  jigs.  As  for  a  ship's  upper 
canvas,  it  has  always  seemed  to  me  too  light,  and  I  shall 
never  forget  my  first  acquaintance  with  square-sails  at  close 
quarters.  It  was  at  Nassau.  Walking  one  day  through  a 
12  177 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

sponge-yard,  I  saw  stretched  on  the  ground  great  squares 
of  smoky,  hempen  canvas  ;  and  on  feeUng  the  various 
pieces,  which  were  the  topsails  of  a  vessel  that  had  struck 
and  gone  to  pieces  on  Memory  Rock,  one  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  northwest  of  New  Providence,  I  remember  think- 
ing that  it  wasn't  at  all  surprising  that  the  sails  of  ships 
blew  away  if  this  was  what  they  were  made  of.  At  any 
rate,  I  put  this  vessel  down  as  an  old  worn-out  lumberman, 
fit  for  nothing  but  carrying  railway  ties  from  Brunswick  or 
Pensacola  to  New  York.  As  a  matter  of  truth,  these  sails 
belonged  to  a  fine  British  ship,  the  "Blair  Drummond"  ; 
and  experience  has  since  shown  that  her  canvas  was  neither 
better  nor  worse  than  the  average,  though  hempen  sails 
never  feel  as  thick  or  stout  as  those  made  of  cotton-duck, 
which  our  ships  use.  The  advantages  claimed  for  hemp 
are  that  it  lasts  longer,  and  that  sails  made  thereof  are 
easier  to  handle  than  if  made  of  cotton-duck,  but  they  do 
not  present  nearly  so  fine  an  appearance  even  when  new. 
If  a  ship's  canvas  were  made  entirely  of  No.  o,  or  even 
of  No.  I,  duck,  it  would  be  next  to  impossible  to  furl 
them  in  a  hard  blow.  As  it  is,  with  the  soft,  pliable  duck 
and  hemp,  the  blood  often  starts  from  the  men's  finger- 
ends  from  trying  to  gather  in  the  bunt  of  the  sail,  which 
bellies  out  like  sheet-iron  when  the  halliards  have  been  let 
go.  It  was  only  this  morning  that  the  mate  told  me  that 
once,  about  thirty  years  ago,  when  a  foremast  hand  in  the 
North  Atlantic  trade,  he  was  one  of  thirty  men  on  the 
maintop-sail-yard  (single)  of  the  ship  "Southampton," 
trying  to  put  the  third  reef  in  the  sail  during  a  January 
gale.  "And,  sir,"  said  he,  "we  could  not  have  tied  the 
reef  in  that  sail  if  the  ship  had  been  sinkin'  under  us,  and 
that  with  a  man  for  every  reef-point. "  It  is  also  surprising 
how  neatly  and  compactly  this  thin  canvas  can  be  furled  on 
a  yard.     From  the  deck  hardly  anything  at  all  can  be  seen 

178 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

on  the  royal-  and  sky-sail-yards  ;  while  even  the  upper  top- 
sails when  in  the  gaskets  are  not  anything  like  as  bulky  or 
hummocky  as  the  most  fastidiously  furled  yacht's  main-sail. 

I  forgot  to  say  that  I  gave  David,  the  Scot,  a  drink  on 
July  Fourth.  He  had  been  throwing  out  clumsy  hints  for 
one  on  that  day,  so  I  filled  a  four-ounce  botde  with  Glen- 
livet  and  took  it  to  him  while  he  was  eating  his  dinner  in 
his  tiny,  water-logged  cavern  forward  of  the  galley.  The 
radiance  reflected  from  his  countenance  upon  the  walls  as 
he  sighted  the  grog  fairly  lit  up  the  gloomy  den,  and  when 
he  had  downed  the  fiery  liquid  perfectly  raw,  he  put  down 
the  bottle  and  delivered  the  following  oration,  his  superb 
figure  raised  to  its  supreme  height  :  ' '  Wherever  ye  may 
go  in  this  world,  sir,  may  good  luck  go  with  ye,  hand  in 
hand  ;  may  it  not  be  many  years  till  ye  get  command  of  a 
ship  and  the  finest  one  under  the  flag  ;  I  thank  ye  for  the 
best  drink  that  ever  passed  me  lips."  I  was  quite  taken 
aback  by  his  earnestness  and  the  depth  of  feeling  with 
which  he  uttered  these  words  in  the  broadest  of  brogue  so 
pleasant  to  the  ear  ;  and  when  he  hoped  that  I  would  soon 
command  a  ship,  he  was  wishing  me  to  hold  the  most 
exalted  position  which  the  mind  of  a  seaman  can  conceive. 

By  the  look  of  the  aneroid  we  are  close  to  some  dirt,  as 
sailors  say,  for  now  at  3  p.m.  the  glass  stands  at  29.08,  a 
fall  of  an  inch  in  twenty  hours  ;  the  sky,  too,  has  a  hard 
look,  the  sun  at  noon  being  unable  to  pierce  the  gloom,  but 
shining  hazy  and  dim,  like  a  gas-jet  behind  frosted  glass. 
The  altitude  at  noon  now  is  only  20°,  and  the  sun's  rays 
are  devoid  of  heat  and  almost  of  cheer.  Last  evening, 
though,  we  witnessed  another  one  of  those  rare  and  radiant 
Patagonian  sunsets.  Every  one  who  has  looked  at  the 
illustrations  in  Nansen's  ''Farthest  North"  will  call  to 
mind  some  strange,  impossible-looking  purple  and  crimson 
stratus  clouds  of  the  most  violent  hues.     Well,  we  have 

179 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

actually  seen  one  of  these  singular  and  extremely  gorgeous 
skies,  unnatural  almost  in  its  transcendent  beauty.  Nansen 
has  caught  perfectly  the  more  delicate  tints  as  well  as  the 
most  flaming  colors. 

We  did  fine  work  to-day,  and  in  the  twenty-four  hours 
logged  two  hundred  and  forty  miles.  Latitude,  48°  45' 
south  ;  longitude,  65°  5'  west. 

July  8 

At  some  time  during  the  morning  watch  we  crossed  the 
fiftieth  parallel  of  south  latitude,  and  have,  therefore,  now 
commenced  the  passage  of  Cape  Horn,  the  stormiest  head- 
land in  the  world,  at  the  worst  possible  season, — in  the 
heart  of  the  Antarctic  winter.  When  a  vessel  is  between 
50°  south  in  the  Atlantic  and  50°  south  in  the  Pacific  she 
is  said  to  be  making  the  passage  of  the  Horn,  and  is  off 
the  Cape  when  she  is  anywhere  between  those  parallels  ;  it 
matters  not  how  far  south  she  may  be  blown,  she  is  "  off" 
Cape  Horn  from  50°  to  50°.  I  think  that  I  have  some- 
where before  said  that  an  average  passage  would  be  about 
twenty  days,  though  the  bad  luck  of  some  men  is  aston- 
ishing. On  her  last  westward  voyage,  for  instance,  the 
American  ship  **M.  P.  Grace"  was  more  than  six  weeks 
off  the  Cape, — forty-five  days,  to  be  precise. 

Late  yesterday  afternoon  the  westerly  winds  which  we 
have  carried  for  two  days  began  to  weaken,  and  at  seven 
last  evening  had  eased  down  to  a  gentle  breeze.  Still,  a 
wind  which  will  drive  a  vessel  three  hundred  miles  in  thirty 
hours  in  this  part  of  the  world  and  allow  her  to  lay  her 
course  at  the  same  time  is  not  to  be  lightly  spoken  of,  and 
we  are  all  in  a  happy  frame  of  mind. 

When  the  wind  had  almost  let  go,  however,  it  began  to 
edge  stealthily  to  the  southward,  and  at  8.30  was  at  south- 
west, the  dreaded  point,  blowing  in  unsteady  jerks.     We 

180 


BY   WAY    OF    CAPE   HORN 

had  nothing  above  the  topsails  on  the  ship,  though  she 
could  easily  have  carried  the  royals,  but  there  was  no  use 
in  piling  on  the  canvas  with  the  look  that  there  was  in  the 
southern  sky.  When  the  glass  stands  at  29.00  bad  weather 
must  be  expected  ;  and  when  the  captain  left  the  deck  at 
8.45,  the  moon  was  peering  dimly  through  a  gray,  thin 
squall,  bleared  and  sickly  ;  the  sea  was  coming  up  from 
various  points  in  short,  convulsive,  oily  heaves  and  a  frown- 
ing rampart  of  dark  cloud  was  rising  in  the  south.  "I'm 
going  below  now  for  a  wink, ' '  said  the  skipper  to  Mr.  Rarx, 
on  watch  ;  "keep  your  eye  open,  for  when  it  comes  it'll  be 
sharp  work." 

He  had  been  down  half  an  hour  when,  as  the  second 
mate  and  I  stood  watching  the  cloud  approach  nearer,  an 
angry,  white  glare  now  below  it,  suddenly,  without  a 
second's  warning,  like  a  blast  from  a  cannon,  the  wind  fell 
upon  us,  laying  the  ship  far  over,  although  the  spars  were 
almost  naked.  In  a  few  moments  Captain  Scruggs  rose 
out  of  the  companion-way  and  stood  for  an  instant,  con- 
sidering the  best  move  ;  I  have  never  yet  seen  him  act 
without  thinking,  and  it  doesn't  take  him  long  to  decide. 
"Shall  we  double-reef  'em,  sir?"  said  Mr.  Rarx,  meaning 
the  upper  topsails.  "No,  sir,"  replied  the  captain;  "let 
the  yards  run  down  and  then  tie  up  the  sails  ;  call  the  port 
watch,  sir;  all  hands  shorten  sail."  **Ay,  ay,  sir," 
heartily  ;  and  the  next  moment  the  second  mate  swung 
himself  down  the  weather-poop-ladder,  stopped  for  a  second 
to  rap  on  the  mate's  door,  and  then  disappeared  forward 
in  the  wet  and  gloom,  while  we  could  hear  his  clear,  strong 
voice  crying  out  above  the  howling  wind,  "All  h-a-n-d-s, 
shorten  s-a-i-1." 

And  now  what  an  inspiring  scene  is  enacted  as  the  big 
ship  plunges  forward,  now  on  an  upright  keel,  now  heeled 
far  down  to  leeward  by  the  fierce  pufls  which  shriek  through 

iSi 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

the  rigging  with  a  din  which  is  absolutely  infernal.  Stand- 
ing by  the  weather-quarter-bitts  looms  up  the  burly  form  of 
Captain  Scruggs,  whose  keen,  vigilant  eye  takes  in  every 
detail  of  the  ship  and  the  weather  ;  while  the  gaunt,  mo- 
tionless face  of  the  helmsman  can  be  seen  through  the 
wheel-house  windows,  illumined  by  the  glow  from  the  bin- 
nacle light.  In  another  moment  a  dull,  rumbling  sound 
is  heard  forward  :  it  is  the  upper  foretop-sail-yard  running 
down,  and  then  the  dim  figures  of  fifteen  or  sixteen  yellow- 
clad  sailors  can  be  perceived  as  they  jump  into  the  rigging 
and  claw  out  along  the  yard  to  windward  and  to  leeward, 
utterly  unmindful  of  the  pelting  rain  which  stings  their 
faces,  or  the  quick,  tremendous  rolls  which  one  would 
think  must  w^hip  them  off  into  the  sea.  Oh,  bold  and 
valiant  seamen,  toiling  so  well  and  so  silently  up  there  in 
the  gale  and  darkness,  truly,  ye  are  the  bravest  and  the 
least  rewarded  of  men  ! 

In  another  hour  the  ship  was  under  the  shortest  canvas 
thus  far, — lower  topsail,  foresail,  reefed  main-sail,  and  spen- 
cer,— bending  over  to  the  blast,  the  wind  now  rushing 
through  the  shrouds  with  that  grand,  deep  hum  like  the 
whirr  of  powerful  machinery. 

Throughout  the  night  we  kept  ploughing  ahead  through 
an  ever-increasing  sea,  with  showers  of  buckshot  hail  rat- 
tling overhead  like  storms  of  bullets,  varied  now  and  then 
with  heavy  dashes  of  spray  against  the  cabin-house. 

At  eight  this  morning,  though,  the  wind  had  so  moder- 
ated that  we  set  the  upper  topsails,  the  ship  wallowing  con- 
tinuously in  a  big  head-sea  which  had  made  during  the 
night.  At  noon,  though,  it  began  to  breeze  up  once  more, 
and  at  one  o'  clock  the  cry  rang  through  the  ship,  '  *  All 
hands,  reef  the  maintop-sail."  Again  the  men  trotted  up 
the  weather-rigging  and  turned  in  a  double  reef  in  less  than 
twenty  minutes  ;  not  bad  for  a  merchantman.     It  is  curious 

182 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

to  see  the  delight  with  which  an  order  to  shorten  sail  is  in- 
variably received  by  a  ship's  company  on  the  approach  of 
heavy  weather.  No  matter  what  their  humor  at  the  mo- 
ment may  be,  they  always  seem  actually  pleased  when  the 
expected  order  comes  from  the  after-guard  ;  and,  with  eager 
glances  over  their  shoulders  at  the  approaching  squall,  they 
leap  into  the  shrouds  and  race  aloft  to  see  who  shall  be  the 
first  over  the  rim  of  the  top. 

For  the  first  time  we,  to-day,  had  stocking-leg  duff  for 
dinner.  It  consists  usually  of  a  quantity  of  stewed  dried 
apples  wrapped  up  in  a  roll  of  dough  and  boiled  in  a  piece 
of  cheese-cloth.  It  is  by  no  means  a  bad  substitute  for 
apple-dumpling,  and  with  good  sauce  is  always  hailed  at 
sea  with  extravagant  joy.  The  name  originated  in  the  fore- 
castle, where  the  duff  is  always  boiled  in  the  leg  of  a  stock- 
ing.     Latitude,  50°  48'  south  ;  longitude,  64°  34'  west. 

July  9 

At  twelve  o'clock  last  night  it  began  to  blow  hard  from 
west-northwest,  and  we  went  on  deck  this  morning  to  find 
a  fresh  gale  from  that  quarter,  with  a  surprisingly  hea\y 
sea,  considering  the  proximity  of  the  land,  for  the  weather- 
shore  was  not  more  than  sixty  or  seventy  miles  away.  The 
ship  was  under  the  lower  topsails,  foresail,  reefed  main-sail, 
and  spencer,  going  well  and  easily,  a  couple  of  points  free, 
heading  into  the  land  for  smoother  water.  Gracious,  how 
the  wind  yelled  around  us  this  forenoon,  drenching  the  ship 
fore  and  aft  with  the  tops  of  the  foaming  seas,  which  the 
gale  whipped  like  the  blowing  of  froth  from  a  vat  of  beer  ! 
In  the  severest  puffs  the  wind  certainly  rose  to  force  10  ; 
and  on  one  occasion,  when  sliding  down  the  weather-side 
of  a  sea,  being  simultaneously  struck  by  a  heavy  blast,  we 
dipped  the  lee  poop-rail  into  the  sea.  At  breakfast  the 
skipper  said,  "There  was  sharp  lightning  in  the  sou' west 

1S3 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

this  morning,  early,  and  when  you  see  this  off  Cape  Horn, 
look  out  for  bad  weather  and  snug  her  down."  I  should 
think  so,  with  the  barometer  at  28.98. 

A  new  bird  has  made  its  appearance.  It  is  of  a  light 
slate  color,  looks  and  flies  like  a  Mother  Carey's  chicken, 
and  is  familiarly  called  by  sailors  the  Ice  Bird,  being 
supposed  to  exist  chiefly  in  the  vicinity  of  ice.  They 
are  very  cheerful  little  creatures,  though,  and  being  small 
and  light,  were  whisked  about  by  the  gale  like  scraps  of 
paper. 

We  are  just  abreast  now  of  the  damp,  dreary  Falkland 
Islands,  which,  if  I  mistake  not,  form  the  southernmost  of 
all  of  Great  Britain's  colonies  ;  she  may  possess  islands 
which  are  farther  south  than  these,  but  they  are  not  strictly 
colonies.  The  group  comprises  some  two  hundred  islands, 
though  there  are  only  two  of  any  importance, — East  and 
West  Falkland.  The  area  of  the  former  is  three  thousand 
square  miles,  being  considerably  larger  than  Rhode  Island, 
and  contains  the  most  important  settlement,  Stanley,  a 
town  of  one  thousand  inhabitants.  The  climate  of  the 
Falklands  is  extremely  healthy  and  equable,  the  average 
temperature  for  the  two  midwinter  months  being  37°,  that 
of  the  two  midsummer  ones  47°  ;  and  although  in  the  cor- 
responding latitude  and  the  precise  longitude  of  the  south- 
ern part  of  Labrador,  ice  seldom  forms  of  sufficient  thick- 
ness to  allow  skating.  The  weather,  however,  is  excessively 
damp.  But,  though  there  are  generally  two  hundred  and 
fifty  wet  days  in  the  year,  the  total  annual  precipitation 
is  but  twenty  inches,  or  one-half  that  of  New  York  ;  the 
greater  portion  of  the  moisture  descending  in  the  form 
of  fogs  and  dense  drizzles.  More  than  fifty  vessels  a  year 
call  at  Stanley  Harbor,  and  being  so  close  to  Cape  Horn, 
in  the  vicinity  of  which  more  ships  are  damaged  by  the 
elements  than  in  any  other  region  in  the  world,  it  is  natural 

184 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

that  a  ship-yard  and  chandlery  for  the  repair  of  saihng  ships 
should  pay  extremely  well.  But,  say  the  deep-water  skip- 
pers, woe  to  the  vessel  which  falls  into  the  clutches  of  Stan- 
ley Harbor  ;  it  is  almost  impossible  to  escape  in  less  than 
six  months,  and  the  most  exorbitant  prices  are  asked  for 
absolutely  necessary  things.  The  last  vessel  of  any  size 
which  put  into  Stanley  for  extensive  repairs  was  the  British 
ship  "  Pass  of  Balmaha,"  which  was  detained  there  for 
nearly  a  year.  It  is  stated  that  the  ship-yard,  etc.,  pays 
forty  per  cent,  on  the  investment. 

At  one  o'clock  this  morning  we  passed  Cape  Virgins  at 
the  Atlantic  entrance  to  the  Straits  of  Magellan,  distant 
about  seventy-five  miles,  and  at  eleven  this  morning  Mr. 
Rarx  saw  the  land  on  the  weather-bow,  and  presently  the 
lonely,  barren  shores  of  Tierra  del  Fuego  rose  faintly  out 
of  the  sea  and  appeared  also  on  the  port  bow,  as  though 
we  were  sailing  into  the  heart  of  a  deep  bight,  as  indeed 
we  were.  Before  long  great  ice-covered  peaks  began  to 
appear,  and  I  asked  the  skipper  if  he  was  going  to  keep 
away  for  the  Straits  of  Le  Maire.  '*No,"  he  replied, 
"I'm  not  going  through  now  for  several  reasons  ;  in  the 
first  place,  I  think  the  wind  will  head  us  in  the  straits,  and 
fn  the  second  place,  as  long  as  this  wind  keeps  on  I'm 
going  to  heave  to  under  the  land  when  we  get  farther 
down.  What's  the  good  of  going  through?  As  soon  as 
we  showed  ourselves  outside  Staten  Land  there' d  be  this 
westerly  gale,  with  who  knows  how  much  sea  ;  then  there's 
a  two-knot  current  settin'  to  the  eastward,  and  this,  with 
three  points  of  leeway,  would  send  us  to  leeward  like  a 
cask.  Better  lie  snug  inside  than  go  smashin'  into  those 
seas.  In  a  day  or  two  perhaps  we  can  go  through  the 
Straits  of  Le  Mar. "  It  is  odd  that  every  ship-master  whom 
I  have  ever  heard  mention  these  straits  should  call  it  Le 
Mar  instead  of  Le  Maire.     Captain  Scruggs  added  that  we 

185 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

would  have  fine  views  of  Tierra  del  Fuego  later  on,  as  he 
was  going  to  run  down  to  within  ten  miles  of  the  land  ;  we 
are  therefore  anticipating  a  very  great  treat. 

It  is  utterly  impossible  to  fitly  describe  these  sunsets  or 
to  do  justice  to  the  wild  grandeur  of  the  scene  as  the  orb 
slowly  and  majestically  settles  into  the  sea  among  the  far- 
away, golden-cushioned  clouds.  In  the  tropics  the  sun 
seems  to  drop  suddenly  behind  the  horizon  ;  but  in  these 
high  latitudes,  he  sinks  so  hesitatingly  that  it  appears  as 
though  he  were  loath  to  bid  us  good-night.  The  air  at 
this  time  of  day  is  most  wonderfully  transparent  here, 
with  a  sparkle  of  frost  in  the  atmosphere  ;  while  the 
clouds,  being  almost  exclusively  of  the  stratus  variety, 
stretch  across  the  horizon  in  layers  of  fiery  embers,  with 
sometimes  a  gorgeous  fringe  of  cloud-fleece  crowning  the 
scene  with  a  coronet  of  dazzling  splendor ;  while  if  a 
heavy  bar  of  dark  cloud  extends  almost  to  the  sky-line, 
the  sun  will  be  observed  glittering  beneath  it  upon  the 
crests  of  the  far-distant  seas,  with  the  appearance  as  of  a 
phalanx  of  golden  breakers. 

The  heavens  on  this  side  of  the  Cape  seem  to  be  always 
clear  with  a  westerly  wind,  even  when  blowing  a  gale  ; 
and  as  the  twilights  are  exceedingly  long,  the  days  so  far 
are  anything  but  disagreeable.  The  dismal,  rainy  weather 
will  come  when  we  get  over  beyond  the  longitude  of  the 
Horn.  Gradually  the  sun  is  getting  lower  at  noon,  the 
altitude  to-day  being  but  14°,  while  the  orb  rises  at  a  point 
about  northeast  by  north  and  sets  in  the  west-northwest. 
It  is  a  significant  fact  that  at  twelve  o'  clock  to-day  we  were 
exactly  abreast  of  the  southernmost  extremity  of  the  main- 
land of  the  world.  Cape  Horn  is  generally  regarded  as 
this  point,  but  the  Horn  itself  is  naught  but  an  island,  the 
farthest  south  of  the  great  archipelago  of  Tierra  del  Fuego  ; 
the  culminating  promontory  of  South  America  being  Cape 

186 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

Froward  in  the  middle  of  the  Straits  of  Magellan,  one 
hundred  and  twenty-two  miles  north  of  the  Horn.  Lati- 
tude, 53°  54'  south  ;  longitude,  66°  6'  west. 

July  10 

All  night  we  have  been  lying  off  and  on  under  shelter  of 
the  coast,  waiting  for  a  favorable  slant.  Under  easy  sail, 
the  lower  topsails  and  foresail,  we  approach  to  within  six  or 
eight  miles  of  the  land  ;  and  then  wearing  round,  stand 
to  the  northward  lOr  twenty  miles  or  so,  repeating  the 
manoeuvre  slowly,  never  making  more  than  two  miles  an 
hour.  The  wind  still  holds  to  the  westward,  blowing  a 
moderate  gale,  but  with  perfectly  smooth  water  here  where 
we  are.  On  the  other  hand,  outside  it  is  doubtless  blowing 
a  hard  gale  with  a  heavy  sea  ;  as  the  skipper  put  it,  *  *  Out- 
side it's  a  regular  Cape  Horn  snorter.  I  lay  in  here  six 
days  with  a  westerly  gale  three  years  ago.  All  ships,  you 
know,  lie  in  here  when  the  wind  is  like  this  till  they  get  a 
slant.  You  see,  if  we  went  outside  now,  while  we  could  get 
to  the  s'uth'ard  all  right,  to-morrow  at  noon  we'd  likely 
be  a  hundred  miles  to  the  east'ard  of  where  we  are  now. 
As  for  goin'  through  Le  Mar,  I  wouldn't  try  it  with  the 
wind  to  the  north'  ard  of  nor'  west. ' ' 

So  here  we  are  in  water  as  free  from  swell  as  a  Central 
Park  lake,  taking  things  very  comfortably  indeed.  But  if 
the  sea  is  free  from  swell,  it  is  continuously  whipped  into 
foam  by  the  succession  of  tearing  snow-squalls  which  strike 
us  with  seemingly  cyclonic  fury.  At  eleven  o'  clock,  for  in- 
stance, it  will  calm  down  to  a  royal  breeze  ;  at  11. 10  it  will 
be  blowing  a  full  gale,  accompanied  with  a  driving  snow- 
storm, which  whirls  the  flakes  along  in  a  horizontal  tempest  ; 
and  as  the  temperature  was  at  33°  all  day,  the  drifts  lay 
in  the  scuppers  until  shovelled  overboard.  How  cosy  and 
cheerful  it  is  to  come  down  to  the  great,  glowing  stove 

187 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE  HORN 

from  one  of  these  black  squalls  and  the  roaring  wind  and 
the  sleet  and  hail,  which  feel  as  though  they  were  drawing 
blood  as  they  sting  the  face  with  a  fury  which  is  simply  re- 
sistless !  For  below  everything  is  delightfully  comfortable 
at  a  temperature  of  65°,  and  we  draw  near  to  the  red  coals 
and  shiver  composedly  as  we  listen  to  the  watch  hauling 
around  the  yards  to  the  cry  of  * '  wear  ship. ' ' 

We  will  never  forget  the  spectacle  which  met  our  eyes 
this  morning  half  an  hour  after  daybreak.  Right  before  us 
lay  the  bleak  shores  of  Tierra  del  Fuego,  stretching  from 
east  to  west  as  far  as  the  eye  could  see,  the  wildest,  grandest 
coast  which  the  mind  can  conceive.  Sheer  down  into  the 
sea  fell  its  almost  vertical  walls  of  rock  and  steep,  rugged 
hills,  with  their  black  gorges  and  frowning  chasms  filled 
with  the  snow  which  had  fallen  heavily  during  the  night. 
Farther  inland  extended  a  broad  expanse  of  rolling  plateau 
covered  with  small  knolls  ;  and  then  in  all  their  desolate 
sublimity  rose  the  magnificent  range  of  snowy  mountains, 
thousands  of  feet  above  the  sea,  clad  in  their  eternal  mantle 
of  dazzling  white.  I  have  never  before  seen  such  a  picture 
as  that  presented  by  this  deserted,  volcanic  land.  The 
gray,  mournful  hills  and  snow-clad  Alpine  peaks,  now 
buried  in  a  raging  snow-squall,  now  rearing  their  ice-crowned 
summits  far  above  the  mists  which  shrouded  their  less  ex- 
alted companions,  filled  the  mind  with  the  idea  that  their 
Maker,  displeased  at  His  own  handiwork,  had  abandoned 
forever  these  lonely  shores  to  the  gloomy  pall  of  cloud 
which  usually  enfolds  the  land  in  its  cold,  clammy  embrace, 
and  to  the  fierce,  wild  gales  which  sweep  everlastingly 
through  its  gaunt  and  spectral  mountains.  What  eerie 
fancies  the  dark  and  powerful  genius  of  Edgar  Allan  Poe 
could  wreathe  about  this  fantastic,  uncouth  land  !  Oh,  for 
a  day's  wandering  through  those  valleys  and  ravines,  as 
cold  and  cheerless  as  the  moon  itself !     And  how  I  envied 

1S8 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

the  "Beagle's"  men  their  months  of  sojourn  amidst  the 
grandeur  of  these  fascinating  hills  ! 

Some  curious  forms  are  to  be  seen  in  connection  with 
many  of  these  peaks.  The  most  conspicuous  landmark 
consists  of  three  hills  called  the  Three  Brothers,  from 
twelve  to  sixteen  hundred  feet  in  height  ;  ship-masters 
always  look  for  them,  as  they  can  then  tell  exactly  where 
they  are.  One  of  the  loftiest  of  the  ice-peaks,  a  mountain 
fully  five  thousand  feet  high,  bears  a  strong  resemblance  to 
the  Matterhorn  when  the  shadows  of  evening  fall  across  its 
great  snow-cliffs  ;  another  looks  singularly  like  the  rounded 
cone  of  Cotopaxi.  And  so  it  goes,  one  peak  apparently 
more  beautiful  than  its  neighbor,  till  the  eye  is  bewildered 
gazing  upon  such  wonderful  Antarctic  scenery.  How  in- 
tensely interesting  it  must  be  to  pass  through  the  famous 
Straits  of  Magellan  and  look  upon  the  wonderful  panorama 
which  is  revealed  at  every  turn  of  the  rudder  !  Steamers 
are  the  only  vessels  that  go  through  now  in  either  direc- 
tion, as  the  channel  is  very  tortuous  and  the  currents  are 
powerful  and  treacherous.  The  experiment  was  at  one 
time  considered  by  the  Chileans  of  maintaining  a  fleet  of 
large  tow-boats  at  Cape  Virgins  to  tow  vessels  through  the 
straits  ;  but  it  was  concluded  that  the  ships  would  have  to 
be  taken  so  far  out  into  the  Pacific  beyond  Cape  Pillar  to 
get  an  ofhng,  which  would  frequently  be  impossible  on 
account  of  westerly  gales,  that  the  project  was  abandoned. 
The  expense  of  towing,  too,  would  be  very  great,  as  four 
hundred  miles  separate  Capes  Virgins  and  Pillar,  and  no 
ship- master,  of  course,  would  tow  to  the  eastward,  as  there 
is  nearly  always  a  fair  wind  coming  around  this  way,  so  that 
the  tug-boats  would  have  to  return  empty-handed. 

The  climate  of  this  country  is  as  equable  as  that  of  the 
Falklands,  though  even  more  humid.  The  temperature 
seldom  falls    below  30°  even  in  July  ;  but,  on  the  other 

189 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

hand,  it  seldom  rises  above  50°  in  midsummer,  and  the 
wind  at  all  times  is  extraordinarily  cold  and  penetrating.  In 
spite  of  this,  however,  the  natives  pass  their  lives  in  abso- 
lute nakedness,  their  sole  protection  against  the  rigors  of 
the  inhospitable  climate  being  a  smearing  of  oil  upon  their 
bodies,  and  in  this  state  they  go  out  to  meet  vessels  passing 
through  the  straits.  It  seems  almost  inconceivable  that 
human  beings  can  live  thus  in  such  severe  weather,  for 
their  exposure  is  infinitely  greater  than  that  of  the  Esquimo 
even  in  his  temperature  of  minus  70°,  for  the  latter  is 
warmly  clad  and  housed.  The  Yahgans,  as  the  inhabitants 
of  the  lower  portion  of  the  archipelago  are  called,  are  of 
particularly  low  intelligence,  and,  according  to  Dr.  Fenton, 
they  not  infrequently  kill  and  eat  the  old  and  useless 
women  of  the  tribe.  Their  language  comprises  about  thirty 
thousand  words,  but,  strangely  enough,  only  five  numerals. 

Since  1881  the  eastern  portion  of  Tierra  del  Fuego,  to- 
gether with  Staten  Island  (usually  called  by  sailors  Staten 
Land),  has  belonged  to  the  Argentine,  and  the  western 
end  to  Chile,  the  boundary-line  being  supposed  to  run 
from  Cape  Espiritu  Santo  due  south  to  Beagle  Channel, 
the  only  settlement  within  hundreds  of  miles  being  Punta 
Arenas  (Sandy  Point)  on  the  Patagonia  side  of  the  straits, 
where  the  Chileans  have  a  convict  and  coaling  station. 
The  Straits  of  Magellan  were  discovered  by  the  celebrated 
Portuguese  of  that  name,  though  he  spelled  it  Magalhaes, 
who  sailed  through  them  in  1520.  If  any  one  wishes  to 
look  at  a  remarkable  sight,  let  him  possess  himself  of  one 
of  Imray's  charts  of  Tierra  del  Fuego  and  examine  the  pro- 
digious number  of  channels,  fjords,  and  inlets  in  this  re- 
mote and  vast  archipelago  which  forms  the  abode  of  eight 
thousand  people  as  low  in  the  gauge  of  civilization  as  can 
be  found  upon  the  earth. 

I  wonder  how  many  persons  are  aware  of  the  fact  that 

190 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

the  famous  old  ' '  Dreadnaught' '  laid  her  bones  upon  the 
bleak  rocks  of  Tierra  del  Fuego  as  her  final  resting  place  ! 
She  drifted  ashore  near  the  Straits  of  Magellan,  while  on 
a  voyage  to  San  Francisco,  during  a  heavy  swell  in  a  dead 
calm,  with  her  main-sky-sail  set.  What  a  sorrowful  end 
for  that  grand  old  ship,  the  "  Wild  Boat  of  the  Adandc," 
the  queen  of  the  clippers,  the  fastest  of  all  the  great  fleet 
which  sailed  the  ocean  from  Sandy  Hook  to  Queenstown  ! 
Peace  to  her  remains  in  her  grave  by  these  iron-bound 
shores  !     Latitude,  54°  19'  south  ;  longitude,  65°  45'  west. 

July  ii 

Late  yesterday  afternoon  the  sun  astonished  us  by  burst- 
ing out  in  glorious  splendor,  and  for  the  two  remaining 
hours  of  daylight  we  sailed  along  parallel  with  the  land 
distant  only  eight  miles,  in  plain  view  of  the  Three  Brothers, 
past  Cape  St.  Vincent  and  Thetis  Bay.  Truly,  the  days 
are  none  too  long  now,  for  the  sun  rises  at  8.30  and  sets  at 
3.30,  so  that  on  dark  days — and  there  are  plenty  of  them 
here  now — we  have  not  more  than  six  hours  of  what  can 
be  called  daylight.  Last  night  was  very  fine,  too,  with 
an  almost  full  moon  soaring  through  a  cloudless  sky. 
Throughout  the  earlier  part  of  the  evening  we  continued 
to  hold  an  easterly  course,  for  the  captain  wanted  to  have 
a  look  at  the  Straits  of  Le  Maire  to  consider  the  chances 
of  going  through  at  daybreak.  Some  little  time  after  we 
had  finished  supper,  about  seven  o'clock,  I  think,  we 
caught  sight  of  the  huge,  snow-bound  cliffs  of  Cape  San 
Diego,  the  southeasternmost  extremity  of  Tierra  del  Fuego, 
lying  calm  and  cold  In  the  white  moonlight,  and  a  little 
later  we  opened  out  the  clear  water  of  the  Le  ^Liire  Straits. 
Then  we  saw  outside  a  thick  bank  of  woolly  cloud  low 
down  in  the  southwest,  and  the  skipper  concluded  that  he 
wouldn't  risk  going  through  the  next  day,  as  that  bank 

191 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

was  the  infallible  indicator  of  a  heavy  blow.  Added  to 
this,  too,  was  the  long,  heaving  swell  of  the  Southern 
Ocean  piling  in  through  the  fourteen  miles  of  open  water 
in  the  straits,  so  we  wore  round  and  stood  to  the  north- 
ward again.  It  was  very  pleasant  last  night  on  deck,  for 
though  it  was  blowing  hard  the  lee  side  of  the  wheel-house 
made  a  delightfully  snug  retreat,  and,  enveloped  in  moun- 
tains of  rugs  and  shawls,  we  sat  there  in  the  deck-chairs 
till  nearly  eleven,  discussing  the  voyage  and  enjoying  the 
clear,  soft  moonlight. 

We  awoke  this  morning  to  the  howling  of  the  wind  and 
Captain  Scruggs' s  voice  raised  in  furious  anger,  the  helms- 
man sustaining  the  full  shock  of  the  vocal  hurricane.  It 
was  the  unhappy  Briin,  who  throughout  the  voyage  has 
suffered  more  than  any  one  else  from  the  temper  and  vio- 
lence of  both  captain  and  mates.  * '  Hey  you,  what  the 
blank' s  the  matter  with  yer  ?  Put  yer  wheel  hard  down 
there  and  let  her  come  up  to  the  wind.  The  other  way, 
the  other  way.  Don' t  yer  know  the  difference  yet  between 
up  and  down,  eh  ?  What  the  blank  did  yer  come  to  sea 
for  anyway?  You're  a  haymaker,  that's  what  you  are. 
Look  at  the  ship  now  ;  d'ye  want  to  get  her  aback  ?  Hard 
up  yer  wheel  ;  hard  up,  you  blank-blanked  farmer's  hound  ! 
How  yer  headin'  now  ?' ' 

"Nor' west  by  south,    sir,"   answered    the   poor  devil, 

nearly  out  of  his  head.     ' '  Now,  by  the  jumpin' ' '     Here 

the  wind  cut  off  the  rest,  but  there  was  a  tumultuous 
scufifle  of  feet,  and  I  could  very  well  imagine  the  scene 
which  was  being  enacted  overhead  ;  so  as  quickly  as  pos- 
sible we  dressed  and  went  on  deck  to  find  a  fresh  gale  blow- 
ing from  the  westward,  with  a  very  steep,  quick  sea.  It 
was  just  daybreak  and  both  sky  and  sea  had  a  very  fero- 
cious aspect,  the  atmosphere  being  charged  now  and  then 
with  long  spears  of  sleet.     After  looking  at  the  weather 

192 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

for  a  few  minutes  I  happened  to  glance  to  leeward,  and  was 
almost  stunned  to  behold  the  ponderous  headland  of  Cape 
St.  Anthony,  at  the  western  end  of  Staten  Land,  tower- 
ing into  the  sky,  not  more  than  three  miles  away  !  No 
wonder  the  old  man  was  almost  in  convulsions.  ' '  We 
must  be  in  the  Straits  of  Le  Maire,"  said  I  to  my  wife. 
And  so  we  were.  It  appears  that  Captain  Scruggs  had 
determined  to  try  it,  and  had  gone  half-way  through,  when, 
at  the  eleventh  hour,  he  decided  that  he  couldn't  fetch  by 
the  land  ;  and  as  the  wind  came  on  to  blow  a  gale  which 
the  woolly  bank  had  foretold,  he  wore  ship  to  stand  to  the 
northward  once  more.  He  probably  miscalculated  the 
strength  of  the  current,  which  runs  through  the  straits  with 
astonishing  velocity,  often  reaching  five  knots  an  hour,  for 
all  at  once  the  mate,  whose  sight  in  semi-darkness  is  better 
than  the  skipper's,  called  out,  "Land  on  the  lee,  sir." 
Our  position  was  really  one  of  great  peril,  for  we  were 
on  a  dead  lee  shore  and  unable  to  carry  sail  enough  to 
double  the  point  with  any  degree  of  certainty.  If  we 
didn't  weather  it,  it  was  good-by  for  all  hands,  for  even 
now  we  could  see  the  great  surges  seething  against  that 
terrible  coast,  where  the  land  is  so  bold  that  a  ship  may 
lay  her  jib-boom  end  head  on  against  the  cliffs  and  still  have 
fathoms  of  water  beneath  her  keel.  With  the  canvas  which 
was  on  her  at  the  moment,  lower  topsails  and  foresail,  it 
was  an  impossibility  for  the  ship  to  hold  her  own,  and  as 
quickly  as  possible  a  double-reefed  maintop -sail  was  set, 
the  difference  in  going  to  windward  being  felt  at  once.  But 
could  she  carry  it  ?  She  musty  for  the  lives  of  twenty-seven 
persons  depended  upon  the  ship's  weathering  Cape  St. 
Anthony.  No  one  thought  of  breakfast,  and  at  half-past 
eight  it  was  blowing  harder  than  ever,  and  in  the  heavy, 
windward  rolls  it  seemed  as  though  the  masts  themselves 
would  succumb  to  the  terrific  puffs.  From  the  shore  we 
13  193 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

must  have  presented  a  magnificent  spectacle  indeed,  had 
any  one  been  there  to  witness  the  struggle  going  on  be- 
tween man's  skill  and  Nature's  power.  Slowly  we  forged 
ahead  ;  but  slowly  and  far  more  certainly  we  drove  down 
toward  the  foaming  rocks  ;  and  all  hands  by  this  time, 
even  the  most  callous  of  the  sailors,  realized  that  we  were 
fighting  in  earnest  now,  fighting  to  save  the  ship.  Not  a 
word  was  spoken  by  any  one  ;  the  men  were  collected  at  the 
weather-rail  in  the  waist  watching  the  land  draw  nearer  and 
nearer,  while  the  captain  stood  on  the  cabin-house  motion- 
less, except  when  he  slightly  revolved  his  arm  as  a  signal  to 
the  helmsman  to  hold  her  up  all  he  could  between  the  puffs. 
Oh,  how  deserted  and  bleak  the  immense  gray-brown  cliffs 
and  snow-streaked  hills  of  Staten  Land  appeared,  broken 
now  and  then  by  gigantic  fissures  which  extended  far  inland 
between  vertical  walls,  against  which  the  sea  broke  furi- 
ously, throwing  cascades  of  spray  high  into  the  air  !  Astern, 
too,  the  view  was  equally  rugged  and  grand,  for  across  the 
Straits  of  Le  Maire  we  could  see  the  ragged  coast  of  Tierra 
del  Fuego  and  the  massive  white  cone  of  the  Bell  Moun- 
tain rising  up  beyond  the  Bay  of  Good  Success. 

All  at  once  it  became  apparent  to  us  that  we  were  hold- 
ing a  better  wind,  the  land  no  longer  seemed  to  advance 
upon  us,  and  at  the  end  of  another  half-hour,  during  which 
no  one  seemed  to  scarcely  breathe,  to  our  unspeakable  joy 
it  was  plain  that  the  worst  was  over  and  that,  bar  accident, 
we  would  fetch  by  without  further  anxiety  ;  and  presently 
the  skipper  turned  to  Louis,  the  Frenchman  (for  this 
splendid  seaman  had  steered  the  ship  beautifully  since 
eight  o'clock),  and  said,  "  Now  give  her  a  good  rap-full" ; 
in  thirty  minutes  more  all  danger  was  over  and  we  stowed 
that  upper  maintop-sail  which  had  done  such  noble  work. 

One  p.  M.  The  wind  has  risen  to  a  full  gale  with  puffs  of 
almost  hurricane  force  ;  and  though  we  are  still  protected 

194 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

by  the  land,  the  sea  is  running  high,  probably  thirty  feet 
from  crest  to  trough,  and  breaking  in  an  ugly  manner.  At 
noon  the  order  was  passed,  ' '  All  hands  haul  up  the  fore- 
sail. ' '  This  was  the  first  occasion  on  which  it  was  blowing 
too  hard  to  carry  that  sail  ;  and  when  it  has  to  be  stowed  it 
is  blowing  what  sailors  call  a  heavy  gale.  The  wind,  in- 
deed, almost  blew  the  breath  back  into  one's  throat  ;  but 
the  brave  old  ship  behaved  finely,  and  after  the  foresail  was 
hauled  up,  no  matter  how  high  or  fast  the  advancing  wave 
was  or  how  suddenly  it  broke,  the  back-wash  would  rush 
out  from  the  vessel's  side,  and,  meeting  the  on-rushing  sea, 
they  would  shoot  far  up  into  the  air,  to  be  blown  in  drift  all 
over  the  ship,  while  she  rode  calmly  and  safely  over  the 
crest.  We  have  not  set  the  spencer  lately,  as  we  have 
been  wearing  every  few  hours,  which  would  necessitate 
brailing  it  up  every  time  ;  I  was  surprised  that  the  captain 
didn'  t  set  it  this  morning,  but  he  seemed  to  depend  more 
upon  the  maintop-sail. 

There  are  two  vessels  to  windward  knocking  about 
under  easy  sail  as  we  are, — one  a  small  bark,  the  other  a 
large  four-masted  ship,  square-rigged  all  over, — waiting  for 
a  slant.  My  wife  has  recovered  her  equanimity  now  (about 
three  in  the  afternoon),  for  she  was  not  unnaturally  upset 
by  the  events  of  this  morning.  She  behaved  astonishingly 
well,  though,  during  that  crucial  hour,  and  her  courage 
and  fortitude  cannot  be  too  highly  commended.  Latitude, 
54°  20'  south ;  longitude,  64°  30'  west. 

July  12 

It  came  on  to  blow  so  hard  yesterday  afternoon  that 
tackles  were  put  on  the  tiller,  and  a  little  before  four  o'clock 
the  ship  was  hove  to,  so  that  when  we  went  on  deck  at 
eight  bells,  after  writing  up  yesterday's  journal,  the  ship 
was  riding  the  seas  smoothly  and  dryly.      Perhaps  it  wasn't 

195 


u 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

absolutely  necessary  to  heave  the  ship  to,  though  she  was 
far  more  comfortable  that  way,  the  difference  being  quite 
remarkable.  The  first  object  which  attracted  us  as  we 
went  on  deck  was  a  three-masted  ship  head-reaching  past 
us  on  the  starboard  tack  under  lower  topsails  and  foretop- 
mast  sta^^-sail,  distant  about  half  a  mile.  When  yachts 
pass  each  other  on  opposite  tacks  they  lie  so  close  to  the 
wind  that  they  cross  at  right  angles  to  each  other,  thus  : 
But  when  two  square- riggers  pass  each 
I  other,  close-hauled,  they  are  so  far  off  the 
I  ,  .  — ^  wind,  especially  in  a  high  sea,  that  they 
run  past  each  other  parallel.  This  shows 
how  the  stranger  and  ourselves  passed  by  : 
J  .  ^  It  did  not  require  much  of  an  eye  to  discern 

^j-M-P^        that  this  was  the  Frenchman,  the  * '  La  Pal- 
'  '  '  lice,"   which  we  spoke  about  ten  days   ago 

bound  round  the  Horn  from  Hamburg  ;  and  I  must  say 
that  she  commanded  admiration  as  she  slowly  ran  by  us 
in  the  gathering  dusk,  a  beautiful  specimen  of  the  iron 
ship-builder's  art.  As  previously  mentioned,  the  relieving 
tackles  were  put  on  the  tiller  at  about  four  o'clock,  after  the 
wheel  had  thrown  the  helmsman  completely  over  itself  and 
through  the  lee  wheel-house  door,  for  he  clung  heroically 
to  the  spokes. 

When  the  * '  La  Pallice' '  was  about  half  a  mile  astern, 
she  put  her  helm  up  to  wear  round  on  the  same  tack  which 
we  were  on.  At  that  moment  the  whole  spectacle  was  a 
most  thrilling  one,  ourselves  plunging  into  a  fierce  head- 
sea,  the  flocks  of  sea-fowl  whirling  through  the  gale,  and 
the  angry  sky,  each  contributed  its  part  to  the  sombre 
picture  ;  while  a  great  rent  in  the  western  clouds  cast  a 
broad  shaft  of  light  through  the  gloom  full  upon  the  big 
Frenchman,  now  in  the  act  of  wearing.  Even  Captain 
Scruggs  and  the  second  mate  were   impressed  with   the 

196 


BY   WAY    OF   CAPE   HORN 

solemnity  of  the  scene  until  they  were  attracted  by  the 
actions  of  the  stranger.  She  had  now  worn  completely 
around  on  the  port  tack,  and  as  she  had  passed  us  so  close 
to  windward,  we  all  thought  that  she  would  come  up  on  our 
lee-quarter.  But  what  is  this  ?  Can  it  be  possible  that  her 
captain  is  going  to  try  to  put  himself  on  our  weather  to 
show  how  his  ship  can  hold  a  wind  ?  He  can  scarcely  be 
so  mad  as  that.  On  comes  the  ship,  however,  nearer  and 
nearer  ;  fathom  by  fathom  she  hauls  up  on  us  till  she  is 
not  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  mile  astern  and  not  two  hun- 
dred yards  to  windward,  and  we  can  plainly  see  the  whole 
of  her  forefoot,  as  her  great  bows,  shearing  through  a  sea, 
are  flung  high  up,  and  then  come  crushing  down  in  a 
smother  of  foam.  All  of  our  men  have  crowded  to  the 
side,  for  here  is  a  spectacle  indeed  :  a  vessel  bearing  down 
upon  another  hove  to  and  without  steerage-way  !  How- 
ever, she  has  still  time  to  put  her  wheel  up  and  pass  under 
our  stern  ;  but  no  such  notion  is  entertained  by  the  maniac 
in  command  of  her,  and  he  is  pinching  her  till  her  weather- 
leeches  shiver  in  his  mad  endeavor  to  pass  us  to  windward  ; 
and  as  the  ship  rises  to  a  sea  and  pauses  for  an  instant  on 
its  crest,  it  seems  as  though  she  would  topple  right  down 
upon  us.     At  this  juncture  Captain  Scruggs  begins  to  grow 

anxious,  as  well  he  might,  and  mutters,    "Is  that  d 

fool  really  going  to  try  it  ?' '  Five  minutes  more  pass,  and 
it  becomes  evident  that  we  must  get  out  of  her  way  or  be 
cut  down  by  that  sharp  iron  stem.  Now  this  is  quite  a 
long  job,  being  hove  to,  for  it  would  be  at  least  several 
minutes  before  we  could  gather  headway.  But  we  must  do 
something,  so  the  skipper  sings  out,  "Cast  off  those 
tackles,"  and  two  men  are  sent  to  the  wheel.  Anxiously 
we  watch  to  see  her  head  fall  off,  but  she  stubbornly  hangs. 
"Square  that  crojjick-yard."  This  is  done;  and  then 
very  heavily  and  clumsily  we  fall  off  and  begin  to  gather 

197 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

way.  So  close  are  we  to  the  Frenchman  now  that  we 
could  talk  to  those  on  board  if  the  wind  were  not  so  strong. 
But  we  are  not  out  of  danger  yet,  for  the  French  skipper 
seems  possessed  of  a  devil,  and  follows  us  up,  as  his  vessel 
appears  to  handle  like  a  yacht.  It  is  but  a  few  minutes 
more,  though,  until  we  have  put  half  a  mile  of  clear  water 
between  ourselves  and  M.  Crapeau,  and  the  danger  is,  for 
the  time  being,  a  thing  of  the  past. 

All  through  the  night,  though,  this  demon  ship  haunted 
us,  as  if  we  were  a  magnet  which  resistlessly  attracted  her 
iron  hull.  I  believe  that  if  Captain  Scruggs  and  the  second 
mate  could  have  laid  hands  on  the  French  skipper,  they 
would  have  strangled  him.  At  supper,  whither  we  repaired 
after  the  excitement,  the  captain  delivered  the  following 
address  :  "If  you  see  an  English,  or  a  Dutch,  or  a  Ger- 
man, or  a  Danish,  or  a  Norwegian,  or  an  American  vessel 
near  you,  don't  be  afraid,  for  he's  all  right.  But  if  it's  a 
Frenchman  or  an  Eyetalian,  get  behind  the  horizon  just  as 
soon  as  you  can,  for  nobody  can  tell  what  he's  goin'  to  do." 

During  the  night  sail  was  made,  the  wind  having  dropped 
to  force  7,  and  this  morning  broke  fine,  clear,  and  cold, 
and  showed  us  the  frog-eater  to  windward.  Will  it  be 
credited  that  no  sooner  did  he  catch  sight  of  us  than  he 
started  down  the  wind  toward  us  ?  At  least,  so  it  looked  ; 
but  he  had  only  squared  away  for  Cape  St.  John,  at  the 
other  end  of  the  island,  having  evidently  given  up  all  hope 
of  the  Le  Maire  Straits. 

We  were  presented  with  a  beautiful  view  of  the  middle 
part  of  Staten  Land  this  morning  at  eleven  o'clock.  It 
differs  from  the  western  end  in  that  the  snov/s,  instead  of 
being  confined  to  the  upper  half  of  the  mountains,  appeared 
to  reach  down  to  the  sea  itself.  How  silent  and  cold  the 
hills  looked  with  the  sun  striking  the  sharp  peaks  and 
throwing  its  purple  shadows  across  the  great  snow-fields 

198 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

between  !  So  dazzling  were  the  mountains  that,  had  we 
not  known  them  to  be  land,  we  would  have  supposed  that 
they  were  icebergs.  It  is  singular  that  such  a  scene  is  not 
one  of  desolation,  but  of  immutable  repose,  and  seems  to 
partake  of  that  calm,  fascinating  peace  and  quiet  which  so 
irresistibly  attracts  explorers  to  the  Polar  seas.  It  was  a 
vista  of  enchantment,  and  it  was  difficult  to  believe  that  in 
the  region  of  Cape  Horn  there  existed  scenes  of  such  sur- 
passing loveliness. 

It  was  the  captain's  intention  to  try  the  straits  once 
more  this  afternoon  ;  but,  alas  !  the  implacable  westerly 
winds  began  to  lash  out  again  ;  and  it  is  now,  3.30  p.m., 
blowing  as  hard  as  ever,  the  sky  is  covered  with  heavy 
snow-clouds,  and  everything  is  gloomy  and  dreary  once 
more.  We  now  have  to  light  the  lamps  below  to  read  by 
soon  after  two  o'clock  ;  this  is  the  third  day  of  westerly 
gales,  and  goodness  knows  how  long  they  may  have  been 
blowing  before  we  got  down  here  ;  these  are  the  winds 
which  keep  ships  off  Cape  Horn  for  a  month  at  a  time. 
One  of  the  most  arduous  and  protracted  passages  of  the 
Horn  was  that  of  Lord  Anson  on  his  famous  voyage  in 
1740-41,  w^hen  he  was  three  months  in  doubling  the  stormy 
Cape  ;  while  in  modern  times  the  cases  of  the  British  ships 
"  Natuna"  and  ''  The  Hahnemann"  offer  examples  of  what 
the  weather  can  do  down  here.  They  each  made  passages 
within  the  last  year  of  about  two  hundred  and  thirty  days 
from  Great  Britain  to  San  Francisco.  The  * ''  Natuna' '  had 
a  particularly  hard  passage  ;  she  made  four  distinct  attempts 
to  round  the  Horn,  but  was  driven  back  so  far  each  time 
that  Captain  Fretwurst  decided  to  square  away  for  the 
Good  Hope  passage,  which  he  did,  running  down  the 
eighty-five  degrees  of  longitude  which  separate  the  capes 
in  nineteen  days.  The  cargo  was  a  miserable  one,  cement 
and  creosote,  and  while  off  the  Horn  some  of  the  casks 

199 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

containing  the  latter  were  stove,  and  the  drinking-water 
became  tainted  with  the  disagreeable  stuff.  To  the  east- 
ward of  Good  Hope  the  parrels  of  several  of  the  yards 
carried  away  in  a  gale  of  wind,  and  the  captain  had  to  lash 
them  with  chains  and  wire,  while  he  ran  away  over  into 
130°  west  before  hauling  up  to  the  northward.  The  other 
vessel,  **The  Hahnemann,"  had  just  as  hard  a  passage, 
though  she  stuck  to  Cape  Horn,  and  her  captain  died  dur- 
ing the  voyage.  About  eighty-five  guineas  premium  had 
been  paid  on  both  vessels. 

A  curious  phase  of  the  weather  to  the  northward  and 
eastward  of  the  Horn  is  that  a  westerly  gale  generally 
doesn't  blow  steadily  for  more  than  twelve  hours,  when  it 
will  clear  up  for  a  while  and  then  begin  again  ;  while  fine, 
clear  nights  often  succeed  the  most  villanous  weather  during 
the  daytime. 

This  morning  we  sent  down  the  three  sky-sail-yards  and 
secured  them  on  top  of  the  forward  house  ;  this  is  the 
practice  of  some  ship  masters,  while  others  never  do  so  ; 
but  to  strike  them  must  certainly  greatly  relieve  the  strain 
on  the  backstays,  for  each  sky-sail-yard,  including  sail 
and  gear,  weighs  about  seven  hundred  pounds,  and  the 
leverage  of  a  ton  one  hundred  and  sixty  feet  from  the  ful- 
crum must  be  very  considerable.  Latitude,  54°  2d  south  ; 
longitude,  64°  20'  west. 

July  13 

All  last  night  it  blew  a  fresh  breeze  and  we  gradually  fell 
away  to  leeward,  and  at  two  o'clock  this  morning  the 
captain  decided  to  abandon  Le  Maire  and  kept  off  for  Cape 
St.  John.  When  we  went  on  deck  after  breakfast  (it  was 
too  dark  to  see  anything  before  eight  o'clock)  we  were 
startled  at  the  sight.  Broadside  on,  and  parallel  with  our 
course,  lay  the  extreme  eastern  end  of  Staten  Land,  distant 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

not  more  than  two  miles,  with  the  tiny,  cosy  harbor  of  St. 
John  just  abeam.  So  close  to  the  land  were  we  that  we 
could  easily  see  the  stunted  evergreens  that  covered  the 
hills  up  to  the  snow-line,  which  is  much  higher  here  than 
towards  the  middle  of  the  island,  where  the  breakers  seem 
to  fling  their  spray  upon  the  fields  of  snow  ;  while  high  up 
on  a  rugged  mountain  side  there  stood  an  isolated,  lonely 
pine-tree,  bringing  to  mind  those  exquisite  lines  of  Heine  : 

"  Ein  Fichtenbaum  steht  einsam 
im  Norden  auf  kahler  Hoh', 
ihn  schliifert,  mit  weisser  Decke 
umhiillen  ihn  Eis  und  Schnee. 

Er  traumpt  von  einer  Palme, 
die  fern  im  Morgenland 
einsam  und  schweigend  trauert 
auf  brennender  Felsenwand." 

Now  that  we  had  approached  so  closely  we  hoped  to 
get  some  photographs  of  the  hills,  especially  when  the 
sun,  bursting  from  a  cloud  on  the  horizon,  threw  his  hori- 
zontal rays  upon  the  distant  peaks.  But,  alas  !  they 
showed  up  as  nothing  but  a  blur  upon  the  finder.  St. 
John,  comparatively  speaking,  looked  like  a  snug,  com- 
fortable little  place,  but  hardly  such  a  one  as  a  man  would 
voluntarily  choose  to  winter  in,  as  do  a  colony  of  hardy 
sealers.  The  harbor  seems  to  be  formed  by  a  neck  of 
land  projecting  out  from  the  right-hand  side  of  the  en- 
trance, upon  the  verge  of  which  we  perceived  the  diminu- 
tive light-house  which  guides  the  rugged  South  Shetland 
seal-catchers  into  safety.  On  the  port  hand  going  in,  over 
against  the  light-house,  rises  a  lofty  cone  composed  of  a 
single  huge  crag,  standing  sentry-like  over  the  safe  harbor 
within  ;  while  roundabout  on  all  sides  tower  great,  dark, 
scowling  mountains  and  vast  precipices,  the  harbor  being 
in  reality  naught  but  a  cleft  in  the  hills,  after  the  manner 

20I 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

of  a  Scandinavian  fjord.  Yet  the  wild  beauty  of  the  place 
enchants  one,  and  long  before  we  had  lost  sight  of  the 
little  light-house  I  had  acknowledged  to  my  wife  that,  after 
all,  the  thought  of  a  winter  spent  in  St.  John  was  not  such 
a  very  dreadful  one,  for  the  fascination  of  Nature  in  her 
grander  forms  far  outweighs  bodily  inconveniences  ;  it  is 
safe  to  say  that  von  Humboldt  in  the  deep  recesses  of  the 
Ecuadorian  Andes  and  Hooker  in  the  awful  solitudes  of 
the  Himalayas  often  longed  for  even  the  rude  comforts 
provided  in  a  settlement  like  St.  John. 

We  looked  in  vain  with  the  glasses  for  the  little  steamer 
which  makes  regular,  monthly  trips  to  the  Falkland  Islands 
and  at  times  even  to  Montevideo  ;  but  she  was  not  visible, 
and  was  no  doubt  away  on  one  of  her  voyages.  A  truly 
turbulent  life  in  one  sense  this  one  on  the  little  vessel,  but 
hardly  so  dreary  as  the  lives  of  the  seal-fishers  who  winter 
at  St.  John,  which  is,  I  believe,  the  southernmost  per- 
manent settlement  on  the  globe,  and  from  October  to 
April  penetrate  deep  into  the  Southern  Ocean  in  pursuit  of 
their  livelihood. 

Two  strange,  natural  formations  attract  the  attention  far 
out  on  Cape  St.  John.  The  first  is  a  mass  of  gray  rock 
perched  upon  the  very  brim  of  a  vertical  cliff,  almost  over- 
hanging the  surf  that  boils  furiously  around  it,  bearing  a 
striking  resemblance  to  an  ancient  feudal  castle  ;  and  one 
can  see,  as  it  were,  the  high  walls  with  heavy  battlements, 
and  the  lofty  crenellated  towers  of  the  massive  edifice. 
The  second  object  is  another  monolith  so  closely  resem- 
bling the  Sphinx  that  one  starts  on  first  catching  sight  of  it, 
for  it  seems  impossible  that  mere  chance  could  produce  so 
accurate  a  counterpart  of  the  famous  Egyptian  monument. 

Well,  we  have  seen  Staten  Land  almost  in  its  entirety  ; 
and  if  we  didn't  have  the  satisfaction  of  passing  through 
the  Le  Maire  Straits,  we  went  a  third  of  the  distance  in 

202 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

last  Sunday  morning  ;  and  we  have  beheld  the  cape  and 
settlement  of  St.  John,  where  the  scenery  is,  if  possible, 
even  grander  and  more  desolate  than  at  the  western  end. 
How  odd  it  is,  by  the  way,  if  Cape  St.  Anthony,  near  the 
straits,  should  have  been  so  called  from  the  temptation 
that  possesses  mariners  to  pass  through  instead  of  going 
around  the  island,  thereby  often  incurring  great  risk  ! 

On  issuing  into  the  open  sea  we  fell  into  a  tide-rip  caused 
by  the  swift  currents  meeting  at  the  point  of  the  land,  this 
rip  being  at  times  so  heavy  as  to  fill  the  decks  of  large 
ships.  A  number  of  hail-squalls  descended  upon  us  here, 
and  as  the  land  at  noontime  had  grown  very  dim,  at  that 
hour  we  had  what  I  fear  was  our  last  glimpse  of  the  sorrow- 
ful hills  of  Staten  Land. 

We  found  a  long  swell  outside,  but  not  nearly  as  much 
as  we  had  anticipated,  though  we  are  as  yet  under  shelter 
of  the  land.  As  for  the  wind,  it  is  now  almost  calm,  the 
hour  being  three  in  the  afternoon  ;  but  there  is  nothing  set 
above  the  topsails  on  account  of  frequent  squalls  of  con- 
siderable violence.  The  men  are  now  so  heavily  wrapped 
up  in  clothes  as  to  resemble  nothing  so  much  as  corpulent 
mummies.  They  have  to  waddle  instead  of  walk,  and 
many  of  them  have  tied  pieces  of  gunny  sacks  over  their 
rubber  boots.  This,  singularly  enough,  is  a  wonderful  pro- 
tection against  cold  ;  and  they  assert  that  if  nothing  else  is 
handy,  by  simply  pulling  a  pair  of  heavy  socks  over  their 
boots  their  feet  do  not  grow  numb.  It  is  strange  that  it 
should  be  so  cold  with  the  mercury  no  lower  than  36°  ;  yet 
here  are  stout,  hardy  men  who  have  to  knock  off  work 
sometimes  to  beat  some  life  into  themselves  when  the  mate 
isn't  looking.  My  own  clothes  now  weigh  twent}--two 
pounds,  or  seventeen  without  the  boots  ;  this  Includes  three 
suits  of  underwear  and  a  sheepskin  coat  with  the  wool  on, 
just  as  it  came  from  the  flank  of  the  animal.      Every  one 

203 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

knows  how  the  spectators  rattle  and  shake  at  a  football 
game  in  spite  of  thick  wraps  when  the  thermometer  is  no 
lower  than  50°  ;  how  much  more  penetrating  it  must  be 
here,  then,  when  the  mercury  is  nearly  twenty  degrees 
lower,  and  when  the  atmosphere  is  charged  with  that  bitter- 
ness peculiar  to  the  air  at  sea  in  the  higher  latitudes  ! 

It  cannot  be  said  that  we  have  done  particularly  well  so  far 
on  this  voyage,  for  we  have  been  nine  weeks  at  sea  this  day 
and  have  only  just  pushed  out  into  the  Southern  Ocean.  I 
wonder  how  long  it  will  be  before  we  can  point  our  jib-boom 
for  the  north  star  again  ?  Latitude,  54°  50'  south  ;  longi- 
tude, 63°  36'  west. 

July  14 

Last  night  was  an  almost  perfect  one,  with  moonlight 
nearly  as  bright  as  sunshine  and  the  sky  absolutely  free 
from  clouds.  About  the  hour  of  sunset  we  witnessed  what, 
for  spectacular  effects,  was  perhaps  the  finest  scenery  that 
we  have  had  yet.  At  four  o'clock  all  the  mists,  etc.,  that 
sailors  call  muck  had  disappeared,  disclosing  in  its  entire 
length  of  fifty  miles  the  south  side  of  Staten  Land.  This 
consists  altogether  of  jagged  rocks  and  fierce,  angry  peaks 
shooting  up  three  thousand  feet  above  the  sea.  The  eastern 
or  St.  John  end  of  the  island  was  wrapped  in  gloom  and 
shadow,  while  the  rest  of  the  land  swept  superbly  down 
toward  the  west,  stretching  away  in  ridges  of  wonderfully 
fantastic  beauty,  the  peaks  near  the  straits  soaring  up 
grandly  against  a  rich  crimson  glare  where  the  sun  had 
sunk  behind  a  rift  in  the  clouds.  Gradually,  however,  the 
light  was  diffused  over  the  entire  western  heavens,  changing 
from  soft  golden  tints  to  royal  purples  and  scarlets,  which 
spread  over  the  glorious  mountains  a  cloud-mantle  almost 
supernatural  in  its  marvellous  hues.  Imperceptibly,  how- 
ever, the  bright  colors  began  to  wane  and  grow  dull,  shapes 

204 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

of  dun  vapor  seemed  to  rise  from  the  land,  and  at  length 
darkness  fell  upon  the  deep  and  the  mountains  receded  till 
engulfed  in  the  blackness  of  night. 

The  scene  on  deck  at  8. 30  was  also  one  long  to  be  cher- 
ished, with  the  joyous,  rosy  light  of  advancing  day  in  the 
northeast,  the  full  moon  slowly  falling,  a  huge  golden  ball, 
behind  the  western  horizon,  and  the  tall,  violet  pyramid  of 
the  Bell  Mountain  on  Tierra  del  Fuego  rising  out  of  the 
sea  fair  and  soft,  far  away  in  the  northwest.  Ah,  no  one 
knows  what  the  real  beauties  of  the  sea  are  until  he  has 
made  at  least  one  deep-water  voyage  in  a  sailing  ship  ! 
The  flying  glimpse  of  the  Atlantic  that  one  catches  from 
the  deck  of  a  steamer  or  the  experiences  of  a  midwinter 
voyage  to  the  Mediterranean  in  a  North  German  Lloyder 
gives  one  no  true  idea  of  what  ocean  life  really  is,  No  ; 
to  comprehend  the  sea  in  all  of  its  splendid  phases  one 
must  live  on  it  for  months  at  a  time  ;  for  not  till  then  can 
one  fully  appreciate  that  ' '  They  that  go  down  to  the  sea 
in  ships,  that  do  business  in  great  waters  ;  these  see  the 
works  of  the  Lord,  and  His  wonders  in  the  deep." 

Up  to  eleven  o'clock  this  morning  the  weather  was  per- 
fect and  we  carried  the  top-gallant-sails  without  trouble  ; 
we  were  heading  our  course  southwest,  and  the  sun  looked 
down  from  a  cloudless  sky.  As  we  went  below  at  that 
hour  we  noticed  a  small  bank  dead  ahead,  but  so  insignifi- 
cant that  I  didn't  think  anything  more  about  it  until  half 
an  hour  later,  when,  buried  in  the  ice  with  Nansen,  we  be- 
came aware  that  it  was  growing  very  dark.  The  next 
second  the  ship  heeled  far  over,  and  some  one  at  the  same 
instant  cast  off  the  spanker-halliards,  the  iron  mast-hoops 
jingling  noisily  as  the  sail  ran  down.  Of  course  we  were 
on  deck  in  another  moment,  and  found  that  the  wind  had 
whipped  around  seven  points  and  that  a  heavy  squall  had 
struck   the  ship   aback  ;  the  great  sails  were  swelled  out 

205 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

Inboard  against  the  masts  and  backstays,  while  snow  and 
sleet  hurtled  through  the  air  in  cutting  blasts.  Luckily, 
the  top-gallant-sails  had  been  clewed  up  a  quarter  of  an 
hour  before  ;  but  a  large  vessel  in  irons,  even  under  short 
sail,  in  bad  weather  is  a  shocking  sight.  The  captain  was 
perfectly  self-contained,  however,  and  executed  some  rapid 
and  precise  manoeuvres,  no  one  losing  his  head  except  the 
mate,  who  went  bellowing  around  the  decks  till  brought  to 
by  the  skipper's  angry  commands,  "  Square  that  crojjick- 
yard  ;  get  the  spencer  brailed  up.  Call  all  hands.  Stop 
that  noise  and  single  reef  the  fore-  and  maintop-sails. ' ' 

Oh,  well  hast  thou  earned  thy  reputation,  boisterous  and 
treacherous  Cape  !  From  bright  skies  and  glorious  sun- 
light we  came  in  fifteen  minutes  to  reefed  topsails,  sobbing 
decks,  and  fiying  snow,  while  the  heavens  were  completely 
veiled  in  that  puny  cloud,  which  had  expanded  as  though 
by  the  agency  of  some  black  art.  * '  Here  comes  Cape 
Horn,"  said  MacFoy  ;  and  looking  to  windward,  we 
beheld  another  sinister  squall,  dark  with  snow,  bearing 
swiftly  down  upon  us.  A  squall  with  snow  in  it  can 
always  be  detected  by  its  peculiarly  black  appearance. 
They  rapidly  increased  in  number  and  severity,  until  now, 
the  middle  of  the  afternoon  watch,  the  wind  seems  to  have 
settled  down  for  a  steady  blow  from  somewhere  between 
west  and  south.  The  glass  is  very  unsteady  at  29.25, 
5  P.M.  The  wind  has  increased  to  a  fresh  gale,  while  a 
heavy  swell  is  rolling  magnificently  up  from  the  southwest. 
This  is  the  first  time  that  we  have  seen  this  heavy  sea,  as 
heretofore  it  has  been  cut  off  by  Cape  Horn  itself.  Every 
minute  it  seems  to  increase,  and  within  forty-eight  hours 
we  will  probably  be  surrounded  by  the  huge  rollers  which 
have  made  this  region  so  famous.  Even  now  they  are  so 
large  and  steady  that,  as  far  as  the  apparent  rise  and  fall  is 
concerned  when  below,  we  might  almost  as  well  be  in  per- 

206 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

fectly  smooth  water.  Our  experience  of  heavy  seas  has 
been  that  the  largest  of  them  do  not  move  rapidly,  and  at 
the  present  time  the  ship  mounts  so  leisurely  to  their  sum- 
mits that  one  cannot  detect  the  motion.  When  below,  it  is 
only  in  the  tremendous  roll  of  the  vessel  as  she  mounts  to 
the  crests  that  one  is  conscious  of  the  height  of  the  seas. 

From  existing  indications  we  are  going  to  make  quite  a 
good  bit  of  easting  during  the  next  twenty-four  hours,  for 
our  course  now  is  south-southeast,  and  as  there  is  a  strong 
easterly  current  running  ceaselessly  here,  southeast  will  be 
nearer  the  true  course.  At  noon  we  were  thirteen  miles 
north  of  Cape  Horn,  but  still  considerably  to  the  eastward 
of  it.     Latitude,  55°  46'  south  ;  longitude,  65°  48'  west. 

July  15 

Last  evening  we  prepared  for  a  dirty  night,  and  we  got 
it.  As  the  captain  and  I  were  pacing  the  poop  after  sup- 
per, the  moon  then  shining  brightly  in  a  clear  sky,  sud- 
denly, from  a  bank  in  the  southwest,  so  low  and  thin  as 
to  be  almost  invisible,  there  appeared  a  streak  of  light. 
"Wasn't  that  a  flash  of  lightning?"  asked  the  captain. 
' '  I  think  it  was, ' '  said  I  ;  "it  certainly  looked  like  it. ' ' 
"  H'm,"  said  the  skipper.  Closely  we  watched  the  south- 
ern horizon,  and  within  ten  minutes  perceived  two  more 
brilliant  flashes.  A  more  uncanny  effect  it  would  be  diffi- 
cult to  imagine  ;  for,  except  the  insignificant  stratum  near 
the  sea-line,  no  other  cloud  was  visible  in  the  heavens,  and 
the  vivid  streaks  produced  a  startling  effect  in  the  white 
moonlight.  After  a  look  at  the  glass,  which  stood  at  29. 15, 
the  captain  called  the  second  mate,  who  was  on  watch,  and 
ordered  the  upper  foretop-sail  clewed  up  and  a  reef  tied  in  the 
foresail  ;  the  upper  mizzentop-sail  hasn't  been  set  for  some 
time,  as  it  generally  comes  in  when  the  cross-jack  is  hauled 
up.     The  wind  at  the  moment  was  from  the  west,  force  6, 

207 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

a  strong  breeze,  with  that  deep  swell  that  seems  to  be  as 
eternal  in  the  Southern  Ocean  as  the  snows  of  Mount 
Everest.  Quickly,  though  strangely  imperceptibly,  some 
small,  windy-looking  clouds  grew  and  expanded  over  the 
heavens  ;  and  from  eight  last  evening  until  daylight  this 
morning  it  was  a  night  of  furious  squalls,  thick  snow  and 
hail,  and  high  seas.  Throughout  the  twelve  hours  we 
were  under  a  single-reefed  maintop-sail,  ditto  foresail  and 
main-sail  and  the  spencer.  During  the  fifteen  or  twenty 
minutes  that  the  squalls  lasted  the  wind  blew  with  terrific 
force  and  shrieked  like  a  thousand  steam  sirens  in  the  rig- 
ging, and  then  would  follow  a  light  spell,  in  which  we 
might  have  carried  everything. 

Our  first  really  hard  squall  came  at  9.30,  in  the  mate's 
watch.  It  was  accompanied  with  a  sweeping  snow-storm 
that  drove  in  great  drifts  across  the  decks,  the  ship  stand- 
ing up  like  a  church  against  the  blasts  and  sliding  com- 
paratively dry  over  the  big  seas  that  came  piling  toward 
us  out  of  the  gloom,  invisible  till  their  foaming  tops  flashed 
out  of  the  darkness  to  windward.  It  was  a  grand,  wild 
scene,  and  as  the  heavier  puffs  went  ripping  through  the 
shrouds  with  a  peculiar  scream,  I  thought,  as  I  looked  at 
the  driving  snow  and  the  darkness  and  the  raging  ocean, 
that  the  Dusk  of  the  Gods  had  come  upon  us.  This  squall 
lasted  fully  thirty  minutes,  and  so  heavy  was  the  fall  of 
snow  that  it  took  the  watch  some  little  time  to  shovel  it 
overboard. 

All  through  the  night  we  were  afTflicted  with  these  un- 
welcome visitors,  variety  being  afforded  by  hail,  which  fell 
to  the  size  of  marrowfat  pease,  while  along  the  lee  alley- 
way, as  that  part  of  the  poop  is  called  between  the  cabin- 
house  and  the  rail,  crouched  the  forms  of  the  seamen,  for 
they  are  compelled  to  stay  aft  every  night  now,  ready  at  an 
instant's  call,  and  not  coiled  away  napping  under  the  top- 

208 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE    HORN 

gallant  forecastle.  The  helmsman,  too,  was  kept  busy,  for 
every  squall  seemed  to  take  us  aback  more  or  less,  and  the 
air  rang  with  the  voice  of  the  officer  of  the  watch,  ' '  Put 
your  wheel  up,  there  !' ' 

It  had  never  been  our  lot  to  witness  so  dismal  a  scene  as 
that  disclosed  to  us  at  a  quarter-past  eight  this  morning. 
A  squall  had  just  passed  over  us,  and  we  were  at  the  mo- 
ment in  a  sickly  calm,  with  a  high,  greasy  sea,  which  broke 
sluggishly  at  intervals  like  frothing  oil  ;  the  decks  and 
weather-side  of  the  masts  and  spars  were  covered  inch 
deep  with  the  wet,  clammy  snow  that  had  just  fallen,  the 
canvas  was  flapping  loudly  against  the  masts  in  the  great 
heaving  rolls,  and  that  miserable,  leaden-hued  struggle  was 
passing  between  the  breaking  day  and  the  wan,  gibbous 
moon  showing  between  the  ragged  clouds,  which  casts  so 
wretched  and  melancholy  a  light  over  all  objects.  A  more 
oppressive  scene  it  would  be  impossible  to  picture,  and  it 
was  the  moment  best  suited  to  him  determined  upon  end- 
ing forever  his  earthly  career  ;  while,  as  if  to  increase  the 
desolate  aspect,  an  immense  albatross,  nearly  white  with 
age,  flew  circling  around  the  ship,  driving  before  him  the 
flock  of  pigeons  that  hovers  continuously  near  us. 

A  rather  distressing  thought  is  that  we  are  now  well 
within  the  limit  of  ice,  and  that  every  degree  farther  south 
renders  more  probable  the  presence  of  some  of  these  off- 
spring of  the  Antarctic  Ice-King.  This  is  offset,  however, 
by  the  fact  that  most  of  the  ice  is  seen  more  to  the  east- 
ward of  the  Horn,  and  that  it  is  usually  not  at  all  thick 
during  the  winter  season.  February  is  the  worst  month 
for  those  huge  ice  islands  which  render  navigation  in  the 
Southern  Ocean  so  hazardous  an  undertaking.  Fortu- 
nately, at  the  summer  season  actual  darkness  off  the  Horn 
doesn't  last  more  than  a  couple  of  hours. 

The  temperature  has  fallen,  too,  and  to-day  reached  the 
14  209 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

freezing  point  of  fresh  water,  sea-water  congealing  at  about 
28°.  To  our  surprise,  the  sun  showed  himself  at  noon, 
and  though  the  horizon  was  bad,  we  got  an  approximately 
good  sight,  which  showed  that  the  orb  was  only  11° 
high,  and  that  we  were  a  degree  south  of  Cape  Horn  and 
fifty  miles  east  of  it.  Latitude,  56°  58'  south  ;  longitude, 
66°  west. 

July  16 

Hove  to  in  a  heavy  gale.  Cape  Horn  in  sight,  bearing  at 
noon  east  by  north  distant  about  fifteen  miles  !  Yesterday 
afternoon  it  was  very  mild  as  far  as  wind  was  concerned, 
and  I  went  down  on  the  main-deck  and  did  a  lot  of  pump- 
ing to  make  up  for  the  days  lost  through  bad  weather, 
when  it  was  dangerous  to  try  it.  From  the  main-deck  the 
seas  looked  infinitely  larger  than  from  the  poop,  the  differ- 
ence in  elevation  of  six  or  seven  feet  making  an  immense 
difference  in  their  apparent  height.  All  through  the  early 
part  of  the  night  it  was  fine,  and  we  set  the  upper  mizzen- 
top-sail  and  the  spanker.  By  the  way,  it  is  remarkable  that 
a  ship-rigged  vessel  will  steer  well  with  hardly  any  after- 
canvas  set.  For  instance,  for  some  time  previously  the 
only  sail  on  the  mizzen  was  the  lower  topsail  ;  while  for- 
ward were  a  jib,  foretop-mast  stay-sail,  both  topsails,  and 
reefed  foresail. 

The  squalls,  too,  eased  up  as  the  moon  rose,  and  up 
to  2  A.M.  the  weather  was  fine.  At  midnight,  though, 
a  sinister  movement  was  noticed  in  the  aneroid,  the 
needle  rising  rapidly  from  29.  Every  one  who  knows 
Cape  Horn  understands  what  this  signifies  with  a  westerly 
breeze, — it  means  a  gale  of  wind.  True  to  precedent, 
when  we  went  on  deck  after  breakfast,  the  ship  being  then 
on  the  port  tack,  it  was  breezing  rapidly.  After  each 
squall  it  blew  harder  and  harder,  with  proportionally  in- 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

creasing  sea,  and  the  skipper  ventured  the  opinion  that  we 
were  going  to  see  a  Cape  Horn  ' '  snorter. ' '  At  ten  o'  clock 
the  main-sail  had  to  come  in,  the  ship  from  being  driven 
too  hard  taking  in  large  quantities  of  water,  especially  from 
the  lee  side.  So  both  watches  were  called,  and  it  was  a 
spirited  scene  as  the  sturdy  fellows  stretched  along  the 
deck,  heedless  of  the  seas  that  thundered  aboard  every 
few  minutes,  while  they  manned  the  weather  main-clew- 
garnet  with  a  chorus  that  rose  above  the  gale.  Brave  ?  A 
more  courageous  lot  of  men  than  Cape  Horn  foremast 
hands  do  not  exist  ! 

Here  the  old  man  thought  he'd  take  a  hand,  though 
everything  was  running  smoothly  ;  so  he  hopped  down  on 
deck,  sprang  up  on  the  main-hatch,  and  in  thirty  seconds 
so  great  was  the  distraction  that  the  men  didn't  know 
whether  they  were  hauHng  on  the  main-buntlines  or  the  jib- 
downhaul.  The  skipper  commenced  in  what  was  for  him 
a  mild  exhortation  to  ' '  Pull  away  lively,  now  ;  pull  away 
there. ' '  But  the  men  were  thoroughly  drenched  by  this 
time,  and  the  teeth  of  the  weaker  were  beginning  to  chatter  ; 
for  of  what  use  are  oil-skins  to  a  man  in  two  or  three  feet  of 
water,  when  he  is  constantly  tripping  on  the  slippery  deck 
and  flying  headlong  as  the  ship  rolls  ?  By  and  by  the 
skipper  began  to  swear,  and  then  it  was  all  up  with  every- 
thing ;  five  minutes  later  he  was  in  a  whirling  cyclonic  pas- 
sion. He  fairly  jigged  upon  the  hatch  in  his  frenzy,  and 
thumped  his  chest  with  his  right  fist  as  he  clung  with  his 
left  to  the  lee  lower  maintop-sail-sheet,  still  urging  the  men 
to  * '  pull  away. ' '  At  length  his  temper  so  flew  away  with 
him  that  he  seemed  to  strangle,  and  the  last  sentence  we 
heard  was,  "  Catch  hold  of  any  d thing  and  haul  on  it." 

In  spite  of  him,  however,  both  main-sail  and  foresail  were 
hauled  up  in  an  hour  and  a  half,  the  ship  being  then  under 
lower  topsails  and  spencer,  and  the  captain  announced  his 

211 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE  HORN 

intention  of  wearing  round  after  dinner,  adding,  *  *  You 
could  see  Cape  Horn  now  if  it  wasn'  t  for  the  snow. ' ' 

All  this  time  the  wind  had  been  increasing,  and  by  the 
time  that  dinner  was  over  it  had  risen  to  a  full  gale. 
"  Land  on  the  lee  beam,"  sung  out  the  lynx-eyed  mate  at 
one  o'clock.  We  looked  ;  and  there,  down  to  leeward, 
we  perceived  the  most  famous  promontory  in  the  world, 
the  terrible  Cape  Horn  itself,  smothered  in  gloom,  rising 
dimly  out  of  the  sea  about  fifteen  miles  away.  ' '  Brail  up 
that  spencer  and  stand  by  to  wear  ship. "  "  Ay,  ay,  sir, ' ' 
cheerfully,  for  a  hot  meal  had  put  life  into  the  men.  And 
now  there  followed  a  spectacle  that  it  will  be  impossible 
ever  to  forget.  The  wind  was  roaring  from  the  southwest 
a  violent  gale,  accompanied  with  tremendous  squalls  blow- 
ing with  inconceivable  fury,  swallowing  us  up  in  blinding 
snow.  The  ocean  had  assumed  a  terrible  appearance, 
white  as  a  snow-drift  to  windward  ;  while  at  intervals  we 
could  see  the  breaking  crest  of  some  immense  sea,  towering 
high  above  the  rest  in  his  grand  and  stately  progress.  The 
helm  was  then  put  hard  up,  the  main-  and  cross- jack-yards 
were  squared,  and  we  fell  away  dead  before  the  wind. 

For  the  next  fifteen  minutes  a  scene  was  enacted  that  ab- 
solutely defied  a  description  worthy  of  it.  The  huge, 
shaggy  seas  came  rushing  along  astern,  full  sixty  feet  from 
crest  to  trough  ;  and  when  close  by,  if  you  wanted  to  follow 
their  progress,  you  had  to  throw  your  head  back  as  though 
looking  up  at  a  mountain  peak,  while  they  shook  their 
white  manes  like  wild  horses,  and  it  seemed  as  if  they  must 
crash  over  the  stern.  But  no,  the  ship  rode  them  superbly, 
and  when  she  reached  the  crest  of  one,  and  we  looked  deep 
down  into  that  dark-green,  foam-streaked  valley  astern,  we 
caught  our  breath  as  the  billows  ran  under  us  and  fell 
thundering  upon  the  main-deck  forward.  The  sight  of  the 
great  ship  with  nothing  set  but  the  three  lower  topsails, 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

flying  before  the  gale,  almost  choked  you  with  emotion. 
It  was  grand,  it  was  fearfully  sublime.  It  was  the  apothe- 
osis of  the  power  and  majesty  of  God. 

An  albatross,  too,  in  a  storm  is  a  wonderful  sight.  No 
matter  how  furious  the  gale,  no  matter  how  fierce  the 
terrific,  hurricane  squalls  of  Cape  Horn,  the  great  bird 
soars  up  against  the  blast  grim  and  serene.  Then  wheel- 
ing, he  comes  sweeping  down  on  the  wings  of  the  gale  at 
a  speed  so  tremendous  that  it  cannot  be  less  than  eighty  or 
even  ninety  miles  an  hour,  when,  describing  a  low  but  im- 
mense circle,  with  the  tip  of  his  lee  wing  just  brushing  the 
tops  of  the  giant  seas,  he  again  takes  his  flight  upward 
against  the  storm.  No  living  creature  conveys  the  idea  of 
boundless  freedom  so  perfectly  as  the  King  of  Space,  the 
Wandering  Albatross. 

By  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  we  had  the  relieving 
tackles  on  the  tiller,  and  when  darkness  came  after  a  sickly, 
pallid  sunset,  it  found  us  hove  to  in  a  mountainous  sea, 
with  the  same  angry  squalls  yelling  in  savage,  ruthless  glee 
over  this  desert  ocean.  Latitude.  56°  12'  south  ;  longitude, 
67°  24'  west. 

July  17 

Last  night  the  gale  diminished  somewhat ;  but  at  eleven 
o'clock  the  chain  topping-lift  of  the  spencer-gaff  carried 
away,  and  we  had  to  rig  a  makeshift  with  a  tackle  until  to- 
day. 

In  yesterday's  log  I  forgot  to  mention  an  incident  that 
happened  which  came  very  nearly  being  a  lamentable  acci- 
dent. After  we  had  worn  around,  at  about  thirty  minutes 
past  one,  while  some  of  the  men  were  hauling  taut  the 
weather  forebrace,  we  were  boarded  by  an  enormous  sea 
that  came  whooping  over  the  weather-side.  The  whole  of 
the  starboard  watch,  including  the  second  mate,  were  haul- 

213 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

ing  on  the  brace  when  the  sea  broke  on  board  and  fell 
directly  upon  them.  I  never  saw  anything  like  the  scene 
that  followed.  The  men  absolutely  disappeared  from  view. 
It  was  as  though  they  had  gone  through  the  deck.  Only 
once  before  had  we  seen  so  great  a  volume  of  water  on  a 
ship's  deck,  and  that  was  during  our  first  voyage  when  we 
were  hove  down  to  the  turnbuckles  in  the  North  Atlantic. 
Yesterday  it  was,  at  the  very  least,  two  feet  deep  on  the 
level,  and  it  filled  the  galley  and  carpenter-shop,  putting  out 
the  fires  in  the  donkey-boiler,  and  this  through  the  lee  doors. 
During  all  this  time  we  looked  in  vain  for  the  sight  of  a 
human  being.  Not  one  was  to  be  seen  on  the  main-deck, 
and  the  water  was  dashing  up  twenty  or  thirty  feet  into  the 
air  at  every  heave.  Gradually  it  began  to  run  off,  and  now 
and  then  a  clumsy,  yellow  bundle  loomed  up  out  of  a  snarl 
of  ropes,  sat  up  for  a  second,  and  then  went  whizzing  away 
to  leeward.  Again  a  man  would  gain  his  feet  and  clutch 
frantically  at  belaying-pins  ;  but  before  he  could  support 
himself  his  legs  would  slide  from  under  him,  and  he  would 
be  swept  into  the  water-ways  like  a  cork  in  a  sluice. 

When  all  but  a  few  inches  of  water  had  run  off,  and  it 
was  deep  only  in  the  lee  scuppers,  we  perceived  a  knot  of 
men  away  aft  wedged  between  the  bitts  and  the  rail  not 
far  from  the  cabin  bulkhead,  entangled  in  a  fearful  snarl  of 
gear.  So  tightly  were  they  packed  away  that  at  first  it 
seemed  as  though  there  were  only  two  men  there  ;  but  one 
by  one  they  crawled  apart  till  three  half-drowned  sailors  sat 
wabbling  on  the  deck,  and  then  we  saw  that  another  luck- 
less creature  was  lying  prone  in  the  scuppers.  Slowly  and 
painfully  he  got  his  legs  under  him,  and,  waiting  for  a  lurch, 
with  an  effort  reached  his  feet.  It  was  Mr.  Rarx,  one  of 
the  most  powerful  men  on  board,  and  he  was  gasping  for 
breath.  It  seems  that  they  had  all  been  swept  aft  together, 
and  all  were  badly  used   up,   especially  Mr.    Rarx,   who 

214 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

formed  the  base  of  the  wedge.  He  says  that  he  was  com- 
pletely under  water  for  a  good  deal  more  than  a  minute. 

We  are  beginning  to  regard  deep-water  sailors  as  little 
short  of  heroes.  Indeed,  they  seem  to  me  far  more  valiant 
than  the  battalions  of  soldiery  that  are  hurled  nowadays 
against  little  bands  of  savages.  From  50°  to  50°  they  and 
the  dark  cavern  in  which  they  live  are  soaking  wet  ;  they 
have  no  time  to  change  their  clothes,  and  no  dry  garments 
to  put  on  if  they  had,  for  often,  no  sooner  have  the  watch 
below  kicked  off  their  boots,  actually  filled  to  the  brim  with 
salt-water,  than  comes  the  cry,  ' '  All  hands  reef  the  maintop- 
sail,"  and  when  that  is  done,  "  Haul  up  the  main-sail"  rings 
out,  and  there  are  two  hours  gone  from  their  watch  below. 
There  is  no  such  thing  as  throwing  ofi  their  coats  or  even 
oil-skins  when  they  turn  in  ;  nor  would  it  be  advisable  in  a 
leaky  forecastle  like  this,  with  half  an  inch  of  water  on  the 
floor  shooting  up  in  their  faces.  Yet  look  at  these  men 
as  they  haul  on  the  braces  in  a  gale  of  wind,  hardly  able 
to  keep  their  feet.  Never  a  word  of  complaint  at  the 
weather  have  I  heard  yet.  Calm  and  unmoved  in  the 
storms  of  spray  and  snow,  they  sing  out  as  heartily  as  ever, 
grin  good-naturedly  up  at  the  poop  where  we  are  standing 
dry  and  comfortable,  and  face  the  crest  of  a  sea  that  rattles 
against  them  as  if  it  were  a  summer  shower.  The  more  we 
see  of  forecasde  Hfe  the  more  difficult  is  it  to  understand 
why  men  ever  ship  before  the  mast  for  a  Cape  Horn  voyage. 

It  is  pleasant  to  think  that  that  wretched  man  Goggins 
was  washing  about  in  his  room,  too, — pleasant,  because  he 
continues  to  drive  and  haze  the  men  down  here  when  they 
are  striving  to  do  their  utmost  under  such  conditions. 
When  he  awoke  last  night  in  the  middle  watch  he  found 
several  inches  of  water  on  the  floor  of  his  room,  and  he  is 
wondering  where  it  came  from.  Indeed,  we  had  a  shower- 
bath  ourselves  last  night,  for  part  of  a  sea  fell  on  the  poop^ 

215 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

ran  aft  against  the  wheel-house  when  the  bows  rose  and 
then  recoiled  into  our  after-window,  which  was  open, 
drenching  that  portion  of  our  room. 

Steam  is  kept  up  continuously  in  the  donkey-boiler  now, 
as  the  men  are  getting  pretty  well  used  up  from  exposure 
and  the  immense  amount  of  making  and  shortening  of  sail 
that  goes  on  continuously.  Captain  Scruggs  beUeves  in 
taking  every  single  point  of  advantage  in  the  wind,  and 
shakes  out  a  reef  at  the  least  indication  of  a  lull,  each  time, 
of  course,  necessitating  the  mastheading  of  the  yard  ; 
though  eventually  even  he  realized  that  the  men  were 
wearing  out,  and  now  the  donkey  does  all  the  heavy  hoist- 
ing. Many  people  think  that  the  engine  does  all  the  trim- 
ming of  yards,  etc. ,  during  a  voyage,  but  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  passage  of  the  Horn,  it  is  seldom  ever  in  use  at 
sea,  and  never  for  sail-trimming.  The  chief  use  to  which 
a  donkey  is  put  is  in  loading  and  discharging  when  in  port 
and  heaving  in  the  anchor. 

Well,  the  wind  now,  at  3  p.m.,  is  at  west,  force  8,  and 
we  have  set  a  reefed  maintop-sail  and  spencer.  We  have 
drifted  about  southeast  by  east  true  since  yesterday,  some- 
times hove  to,  sometimes  headreaching  through  a  heavy 
sea-  The  elements  are  somewhat  more  placid,  and  I  must 
not  bring  this  day's  journal  to  a  close  without  extolling  my 
wife' s  bravery  during  the  foul  weather,  for  her  courage  was 
remarkable.  Only  those  who  have  been  to  sea  in  a  sailing 
ship  whose  main-deck  is  but  seven  feet  above  the  water  can 
appreciate  what  a  whole  gale  of  wind  means  under  such 
circumstances.  Latitude,  57°  south  ;  longitude,  65°  45' 
west. 

July  18 

Land  was  reported  on  the  weather-beam  this  afternoon. 
We  think  that  it  is  Barneveld  Island,  about  thirty  miles 

216 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

northeast  of  Cape  Horn,  and  it  bore,  when  first  sighted, 
northwest.  We  didn't  do  anything  at  all  during  the  last 
twenty-four  hours  but  seesaw  up  and  down,  north  and 
southeast,  with  the  wind  at  southwest,  and  we  were  sur- 
prised by  a  calm  last  night  from  six  until  twelve  o'clock, 
with  a  comparatively  high  thermometer, — 41°  at  the  latter 
hour, — so  that  the  skipper  looked  for  a  northerly  wind 
during  this  morning.  But  no  such  luck  for  us  ;  daylight 
saw  us  under  a  reefed  maintop-sail  (we  had  set  the  main- 
top-gallant at  midnight)  with  a  moderate  gale  from  the 
westward,  though  the  sea  was  quite  smooth.  We  have 
entirely  lost  the  long  southwesterly  roll,  and  it  is  astonish- 
ing how  that  swell  does  go  down  if  you  are  only  a  little 
to  the  eastward  of  the  Cape.  For  instance,  suppose  a  vessel 
to  be  in  57°  south  and  68°  west,  she  is  almost  certain  to 
have  this  big  heave  ;  but  if  in  66°  west  and  the  same  latitude 
she  will  be  almost  entirely  free  from  it ;  at  least,  this  has  been 
our  experience. 

Great  agitation  pervaded  the  ship  aft  to-day  when  the 
discovery  was  made  that  the  pumps  had  not  been  working 
properly  for  twenty-four  hours.  In  heavy  weather  the 
' '  Higgins' '  has  to  be  pumped  out  every  two  hours  on  ac- 
count of  a  leak  near  the  rudder-head,  although  the  major- 
ity of  wooden  sailing  vessels  have  to  man  the  pumps  every 
watch  in  a  seaway,  for  they  all  leak  in  bad  weather.  Some- 
thing was  wrong  with  the  plunger,  I  believe,  and  the  pumps 
have  been  useless  for  a  whole  day,  unknown  to  any  one, 
which  in  itself  seems  remarkable,  though  I  must  say  that 
the  decks  have  been  so  full  of  water  that  it  has  been  very 
hard  to  tell  w^hether  a  stream  was  coming  up  from  below 
or  not.  Therefore  both  men  and  donkey  have  been  alter- 
nately pumping  without  result,  and  when  the  carpenter 
sounded  the  well  this  noon,  lo  !  there  were  two  and  a  half 
feet  of   water  in   the  vessel,    which  means  nearly  twenty 

217 


BY   WAY   OF    CAPE   HORN 

thousand  gallons,  or  about  six  hundred  barrels.  By  using 
both  sides  of  the  pumps,  however,  the  engine  had  them 
sucking  in  an  hour,  doing  sixty  revolutions  to  the  minute. 
There  was  a  violent  scene,  though,  when  the  old  man 
learned  of  the  affair,  and  a  still  more  turbulent  half-hour 
followed  while  the  plunger  was  being  repaired. 

Here,  in  the  bad,  wet  weather,  for  it  has  been  raining 
for  forty-eight  hours,  this  ship  is  extremely  uncomfortable 
and  disagreeable  below,  and  the  most  slovenly  one  that  I 
have  ever  seen.  To  begin  with,  it  is  very  dark,  for  the 
skylights  are  absurdly  small,  and  boards  have  to  be  se- 
cured on  their  weather-sides  to  prevent  a  repetition  of  the 
river  Plate  incident,  so  that  the  gloom  of  the  interior  is 
that  of  a  hole  in  the  ground.  However,  this  doesn't 
count,  for  we  expected  it.  The  after-cabin  is  a  rather  un- 
pleasant spot,  by  reason  of  a  so' wester  or  two,  a  dripping 
black  oil-skin,  several  pair  of  wet  woollen  wrist-protectors, 
a  few  greasy  magazines,  a  chart  or  two,  and  a  couple  of 
camp-chairs  all  continually  sliding  about  the  floor,  making 
locomotion  an  extremely  hazardous  undertaking.  But, 
upon  approaching  the  forward  or  dining  cabin,  a  spectacle 
meets  the  eye  which  would  shake  the  heart  of  the  stoutest 
landsman.  In  the  forward  end,  in  a  recess,  stands  the 
stove,  stayed  with  iron  rods  ;  while  surrounding  it  on  three 
sides  is  a  permanent  aggregation  of  various  objectionable 
articles,  perfectly  appalling.  The  heater  is  completely 
smothered  at  all  times  in  ancient,  wet  garments  of  the  skip- 
per's, almost  in  a  state  of  fermentation,  suspended  on  wires, 
so  that  the  stove  can  hardly  be  seen.  At  dinner  to-day  the 
following  disreputable  articles  of  clothing  hung  before  the 
fire,  dank  and  mildewed  :  two  pairs  of  aged  trousers,  two 
waist-coats,  three  coats,  one  overcoat,  two  mufflers,  one 
pair  of  knitted  gloves,  one  handkerchief,  and  two  pairs  of 
socks.     From  these  garments  there  issued  a  peculiarly  ob- 

218 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

noxious,  thin  steam,  through  which  a  yellow  lamp  glowed 
unhealthily. 

Below,  at  the  base  of  the  stove,  and  surrounding  it  as 
with  a  chevaux-de-frise,  were  two  pairs  of  rubber  boots, 
ditto  leather  shoes,  ditto  felt  slippers  for  boots,  two  dishes 
filled  with  the  cat's  half-devoured  food,  no  one  knows  how 
old,  a  wash-tub  half  filled  with  soaking  sheets,  a  bucket, 
and  a  wooden  box  nearly  full  of  ashes,  upon  which  re- 
posed a  coffee-pot.  And  when  to  all  this  is  added  the 
humidity  of  this  region,  which  is  so  dense  that  moisture 
condenses  on  the  walls,  and  the  fact  that  the  mizzen-mast- 
coat  leaks,  covering  several  square  feet  of  the  floor  with 
water,  it  will  be  conceded  that  the  interior  of  this  vessel  is 
distinctly  disreputable.  Indeed,  we  never  attempt  to  sit 
and  read  anywhere  else  than  in  our  own  room.  Nor  are 
the  dishes  what  they  should  be,  and  I  often  find  a  clot 
of  coagulated  soup  in  the  ladle  from  yesterday's  repast  ; 
this  latter  is,  of  course,  the  fault  of  the  steward,  though 
the  best  of  servants  will  grow  careless  if  they  are  not 
watched. 

Then  the  mate  is  extremely  unclean,  so  much  so  that 
even  Mr.  Rarx  said  a  day  or  two  ago  that  he  was  the 
dirtiest  man  whom  he  had  even  seen  in  a  ship's  cabin. 
He  never  washes  his  face  and  hands  to  come  to  the  table, 
both  of  which  are  streaked  with  soot,  lard  oil,  and  good- 
ness knows  what  else.  The  captain  is  considerably  better 
in  this  respect,  but  his  temper  seems  to  be  more  uncon- 
trollable than  ever,  and  he  shouts  at  the  steward  and  Sam- 
mie  as  though  they  were  on  the  foretop-sail-yard  in  a  gale 
of  wind.  He  seems  to  consider  it  a  personal  affront  every 
time  that  the  men  come  aft  on  Saturday  nights  to  buy 
things  from  the  slop-chest,  which  he  throws  at  them  with 
scant  ceremony.  Last  night  *'Long  John"  Pettersen 
asked  him  for  a  pair  of  No.  lo  rubber  boots  in  his  cowed, 

219 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

frightened  way.  '  *  I  ain'  t  got  no  tens, ' '  cried  the  skipper  ; 
"here's  nines;  take 'em  and  get  out";  and  he  cast  the 
boots  at  John,  who  promptly  dodged,  and  they  struck  the 
stove  with  a  great,  clattering  din. 

I  will,  no  doubt,  be  accused  of  inhumanity  in  taking  my 
wife  to  sea  in  such  a  vessel  as  this,  but  we  had  not  the  least 
notion  that  she  would  prove  so  different  from  what  we  sup- 
posed her  to  be,  and  few  persons  would  suspect  that  such 
things  would  occur  aboard  of  a  ship  which  looked  so  neat 
and  trim  in  the  New  York  docks.  Our  previous  expe- 
rience at  sea,  we  have  since  discovered,  was  not  of  any  use 
to  us  as  a  guide  as  to  what  we  might  expect  here.  Indeed, 
in  the  worst  weather  off  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  the 
"  Mandalore's"  cabin,  with  its  brightly  polished  open- 
grate  and  shining  bird's-eye  maple  panelling,  would  not 
have  been  discreditable  to  a  well-found  yacht.  Latitude, 
56°  14'  south  ;  longitude,  66°  west. 

July  19 

Hail,  mighty  sun  !  Welcome,  radiant,  glorious  monarch  ! 
We  saw  the  luminous  orb  for  ten  minutes  at  mid-day,  mark- 
ing an  epoch,  for  events  off  Cape  Horn  date  from  the  last 
time  that  the  sun  was  seen.  When  day  broke  this  morn- 
ing, behold  !  the  sky  was  clear  and  everything  presaged  at 
least  two  hours  of  bright  sunshine.  No  sooner,  however, 
did  the  orb  show  signs  of  appearing  above  the  horizon 
than  a  cloud-bank  arose  in  the  west  which  proved  to  be  the 
mother  of  a  procession  of  squalls  which  covered  the  sky 
for  the  rest  of  the  day,  bar  a  few  minutes  at  noon.  But  how 
we  did  rejoice  for  even  a  glimpse  of  the  heavenly  body  ! 
For  days  we  had  dwelt  in  darkness  and  twilight,  and  when 
we  caught  sight  of  the  golden  disk  again  it  was  like  the 
face  of  an  old  friend.  No  one  who  has  not  experienced  it 
can  imagine  what  the  gloom  of  Cape  Horn  is  like  even  at 

220 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

mid-day.  It  has  doubtless  somewhat  the  effect  of  the  dark- 
ness of  the  Polar  seas,  which,  it  is  said,  kills  more  men 
than  frost  and  starvation.  Practically,  throughout  the  year 
the  heavens  in  this  region  arc  wrapped  up  in  a  pall  of  cloud 
so  dense  and  low  as  to  feel  like  an  increased  atmospheric 
pressure  ;  and  unless  one's  spirits  are  as  elastic  as  rubber 
the  mind  must  succumb  to  the  dreary  influence  of  this  end- 
less waste  of  gray  ocean.  It  is  oppressive  beyond  the 
power  of  words  ;  and  so  great  is  the  solitude  that  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  believe  that  we  are  still  on  the  earth  and  not  floating 
upon  the  ocean  of  another  planet. 

"So  lonely  'twas,  that  God  himself 
Scarce  seemed  there  to  be." 

The  sun's  altitude  at  noon  was  only  8°  42',  so  that  he 
was  only  about  sixteen  diameters  above  the  horizon  ;  but 
notwithstanding,  all  hands  hailed  him  with  glad  paeans, 
and  deep  and  mournful  was  the  wailing  when  he  withdrew. 
At  eleven  o'clock,  while  we  were  reading  below,  the  skip- 
per called  down  to  know  if  we  didn'  t  want  to  see  a  regular 
old-fashioned  squall.  So  up  we  went,  and  upon  issuing 
from  the  companion-way  were  almost  literally  blown  over 
by  a  heavy  gust.  The  ship  was  hove  down  till  the  sea 
flowed  over  the  lee  rail  thick  and  smooth  and  dark,  like  the 
water  on  the  verge  of  a  cataract  ;  the  wind  howled  and 
screeched  overhead  ;  spray  fell  in  blinding  sheets  ;  while 
the  snow  was  positively  overpowering  and  almost  smoth- 
ered us  when  we  looked  to  windward.  The  ship  for  some 
time  had  dragged  a  double-reefed  maintop-sail,  and  it  was 
every  stitch  that  she  could  stand.  All  through  the  day  we 
were  bombarded  by  these  squalls,  and  by  three  in  the  after- 
noon the  wind  had  once  more  increased  to  a  fresh  gale,  with 
a  wicked,  breaking  sea  which  frequently  broke  on  the  poop 
itself. 

221 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

How  little,  how  pitifully  little  departure  we  made  in  the 
last  week  !  On  Tuesday,  six  days  ago,  we  rounded  Cape 
St.  John,  and  now  we  are  only  a  degree  farther  west  !  I 
should  think  it  zvas  hard  to  make  westing  off  the  Horn. 
Call  it  forty  miles  in  a  week,  for  the  degrees  of  longitude 
are  scarcely  thirty-five  miles  long  in  this  latitude.  Six 
miles  of  westing  a  day  !  Speaking  of  the  length  of  de- 
grees, though,  it  is  remarkable  how  much  farther  south  of 
the  line  the  Horn  seems  (56°  south)  than  56°  north  seems 
north  of  it.  For  instance,  the  fifty-sixth  northerly  parallel 
passes  between  Edinburgh  and  Glasgow,  and  is  not  very 
far  north  of  Hamburg  ;  yet  but  few  persons  would  suppose 
that,  roughly  speaking,  these  cities  were  in  the  same  rela- 
tive latitude  as  the  southern  extremity  of  South  America, 

Last  evening,  just  before  dark,  a  sail  was  sighted  about 
ten  miles  to  leeward,  and  was  there  still  this  morning.  It 
was  a  ship,  and  we  conjectured  that  she  was  the  * '  Dowes' ' 
until  the  glasses  showed  that  she  had  a  standing  spanker- 
gaff,  which  made  her  a  foreigner.  Perhaps  she  is  the  demon 
Frenchman  ;  may  she  approach  no  nearer. 

One  of  the  men  at  the  wheel,  Jack  Michaels,  whispered 
to  me  this  morning,  *'  Say,  was  that  land  the  Diego 
Ramirez  we  saw  yesterday?"  And  when  told  that  we 
were  still  east  of  Cape  Horn,  the  poor  fellow  ejaculated, 
"  Oh,  my  God  !"  so  earnestly  and  sorrowfully  that  it  spoke 
whole  volumes  for  what  the  men  are  suffering  in  the  leaky 
forecastle.  Two  men  are  constantly  at  the  wheel  now,  and 
even  when  the  tiller  is  lashed  and  we  are  hove  to,  the  law 
compels  one  man  to  stand  with  his  hands  on  the  spokes  as 
though  still  steering,  so  as  to  be  ready  in  case  of  accident. 
Well,  it  looks  as  though  we  were  going  to  have  a  worse 
night  than  ever  for  sleeping  ;  last  night  we  got  only  three 
hours  of  rest.  Latitude,  56°  54'  south  ;  longitude,  65° 
west. 

222 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 
July  20 

"The  ship  drove  fast,  loud  roared  the  blast, 
And  southward  aye  we  fled." 

It  came  on  to  blow  very  hard  indeed  yesterday  after- 
noon at  three  o'clock,  just  as  we  had  finished  writing,  and 
at  four  it  became  necessary  to  haul  up  the  main-sail  and 
foresail,  though  both  were  reefed.  When  the  skipper  sung 
out,  "  Clew  up  the  main-sail,"  I  think  that  it  was  blowing 
harder  than  we  ever  saw  it  at  sea.  The  captain  said  that 
there  was  more  wind  the  other  day  in  sight  of  Cape  Horn  ; 
but  I  think  that  this  was  only  to  contradict.  Whether  or 
no,  it  blew  a  fearful  gale,  though  the  full  strength  didn't 
last  more  than  three  hours,  with,  for  a  while,  the  worst  snow 
and  hail  that  we  have  had  yet.  The  ocean  seethed  ;  big 
seas  swept  the  decks  fore  and  aft  like  cataracts  every  five 
minutes,  and  the  ship,  with  nothing  showing  but  the  lower 
topsails,  was  bowed  down  before  the  blasts  like  a  palm-tree 
in  a  hurricane.  We  thought  that  we  were  surely  going  to 
lose  the  main-sail  through  the  fault  of  the  wretched  mate, 
who  is  of  no  use  whatever  in  bad  weather.  It  is  necessary 
to  observe  extreme  caution  in  hauling  up  any  of  the  courses 
in  a  gale  of  wind,  for  the  tack  and  sheet  must  be  eased 
off  just  so,  in  order  that  both  they  and  the  clew-garnets 
shall  be  perfectly  taut  until  the  clews  are  right  up  to  the 
yard.  If  not,  the  chance  of  losing  the  sails  is  exceedingly 
good.  Well,  the  miserable  man,  in  the  midst  of  a  tearing 
puff,  let  the  main-tack  get  away  from  him.  Instantly  there 
arose  a  frightful  slatting,  and  we  expected  to  see  the  strong, 
new  canvas  whipped  into  ribbons,  while  the  great,  ninety- 
foot  mainyard  buckled  and  bent  almost  like  a  coach-whip. 
I  hope  never  to  witness  such  a  sight  again.  The  old  man's 
state  while  this  was  going  on  must  be  left  to  the  imagina- 
tion ;  and  when  a  sea  swept  over  the  side,  cariying  almost 
every  man  on    the   clew-garnets   and   buntlines   into   the 

22\ 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

scuppers,  we  feared  that  his  reason  was  going.  After  a 
hard  struggle,  though,  the  gaskets  were  put  on  the  main- 
sail, and  then  the  foresail  had  to  come  in.  Here  the  mate, 
very  properly,  found  something  else  to  do,  and  Mr.  Rarx, 
calm  and  perfect  master  of  himself,  slacked  away  the  tack 
first  ;  and  when  the  weather-side  had  been  hauled  up,  he 
did  the  same  with  the  sheet,  without  the  least  show  of  ex- 
ertion ;  he  is  a  splendid  seaman. 

At  this  moment  I  stepped  into  the  wheel-house  to  look 
at  the  aneroid,  and  found  the  needle  actually  jumping  back 
and  forth  from  29. 10  to  29. 20,  with  a  quick  jerk  like  the 
second-hand  of  a  clock.  This  is  known  as  "pumping" 
when  observed  in  a  mercurial  barometer,  and  occurs  most 
frequently  during  cyclones,  the  cause  being  sudden  changes 
in  the  velocity,  and,  consequently,  force,  of  the  wind.  It 
is  interesting  to  note  that  if  a  barometer  is  hung  against  a 
wall  where  the  wind  will  blow  steadily  upon  it  at  a  rate  of 
about  thirty  feet  per  second  the  height  of  the  barometer  is 
perceptibly  increased.  Once  before  we  observed  this  pump- 
ing of  the  barometer,  which  happened  on  the  P.  and  O. 
steamer  ' '  Khedive, ' '  in  the  Bay  of  Biscay,  when  the  glass 
stood  at  28.64.  This  is,  of  course,  a  very  low  reading,  but 
it  is  often  eclipsed  during  tropical  cyclones  ;  indeed,  not 
long  ago  the  British  steamer  "Foreland,"  at  New  York, 
from  Hull,  reported  the  barometer  at  28. 10  to  the  eastward 
of  the  Banks  during  a  January  passage. 

At  five  yesterday  afternoon  the  force  of  the  wind  was 
greatest,  and  the  surface  of  the  ocean  smoked,  and  we 
couldn't  see  the  jib-boom  for  the  spume,  which  flew  through 
the  air  like  steam  ;  yet  in  the  very  eye  of  the  storm  the 
gay  little  Cape  pigeons  darted  about  like  sparrows  in  a 
summer  shower.  They  seemed  to  find  a  deal  to  eat  on  the 
surface,  and  their  method  of  feeding  was  this  :  At  the  in- 
stant that  an  unusually  heavy  sea  passed  they  would  swoop 

224 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

down  into  the  hollow  where  it  was  almost  calm,  snatch  a 
few  mouthfuls  of  whatever  they  found,  and  as  the  next 
huge  sea  rushed  at  them,  at  the  very  second  before  they 
were  buried  in  the  hissing  crest,  they  extended  their  wings 
to  the  utmost,  the  wind  struck  beneath  them,  and  without 
any  perceptible  effort  they  rose  against  the  gale,  only  to 
drop  again  in  a  few  moments,  and  repeat  the  operation.  It 
was  really  very  pretty  manoeuvering,  and  compelled  admi- 
ration at  the  ease  and  certainty  with  which  the  little  crea- 
tures handled  themselves  even  in  the  heaviest  gusts. 

Alas,  the  poor  sailors  !  They  have  been  continuously 
wet  now  for  more  than  ten  days.  It  is  true  that  from  8 
A.  M.  till  eight  in  the  evening  there  is  a  fire  burning  in  a 
small  stove  in  the  forecastle  ;  but  the  atmosphere  is  so 
extremely  humid  that  the  heat  doesn't  seem  to  affect  the 
forecastle  or  the  men's  clothes.  Indeed,  it  is  a  grewsome 
sight  to  look  into  that  apartment  as  I  did  the  other  night 
at  seven  o'clock.  The  port  watch  were  below  lying  in 
their  bunks  with  faces  toward  the  stove,  which  was  all  but 
concealed  by  dripping,  steaming  garments  swinging  madly 
in  the  heavy  rolls,  water  was  splashing  high  up  on  the 
grimy  walls  from  the  floor,  while  a  dense,  rank  vapor  per- 
vaded the  place,  through  which  the  stove  glowed  dully, 
like  a  headlight  in  a  fog.  Many  of  the  men  are  now 
afflicted  with  the  most  grievous  perhaps  of  all  the  ills  with 
which  sailors  are  cursed  in  cold,  bad  weather, — the  dreaded 
sea-boils.  These  harassing  sores  are  due  to  the  friction  of 
oil-skins  and  other  clothes  upon  the  wrists  and  neck,  con- 
tinually drenched  with  salt-water,  though  the  bad  condition 
of  sailors'  blood  generally  is  doubtless  responsible  for  the 
dreadful  state  of  the  wrists  of  the  sufferers.  It  is  singular 
that  mere  friction  combined  with  cold  sea-water  should 
produce  such  results.  Sea-boils  or  salt-water-boils,  as  they 
are  sometimes  called,  are  exquisitely  painful  and  very  sensi- 
15  225 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

tive  to  any  rubbing,  and  they  must  be  bandaged  and  poul- 
ticed until  it  is  time  for  the  lancing,  upon  which  a  sort  of 
core,  like  a  short,  thick  piece  of  sinew,  is  laid  bare,  which 
must  be  seized  and  plucked  out.  Two  of  these  boils  as 
large  as  plums  will  lay  a  man  up  ;  and  any  attempt  to 
work  him  hard  generally  results  in  a  high  fever  and  his 
bunk  for  several  days.  Imagine  what  the  suffering  of 
sailors  must  be  off  Cape  Horn  when  these  boils  are  added 
to  fatigue,  cold,  loss  of  sleep  from  frequent  calls  of  all 
hands,  and  to  the  lethargy  that  comes  from  exposure.  I 
repeat  again,  why  do  men  ship  before  the  mast?  There 
are  other  things  to  do,  and  even  breaking  stones  on  a  high- 
way is  to  my  mind  infinitely  preferable.  Notwithstanding 
everything  said  to  the  contrary,  the  life  of  a  Cape  Horn 
foremast  hand  is  the  life  of  a  beast.  It  is  hard,  wearing, 
and  bitter  beyond  words  ;  and  when  are  added  the  kicks 
and  the  blows  from  belaying-pins  and  knuckle-dusters  that 
the  men  are  usually  served  with  on  American  ships  by  way 
of  dessert,  it  is  difficult  to  believe  that  human  beings  can 
survive  such  privations  and  sufferings.  Poor  fellows  ! 
They  stumble  about  the  decks  with  drawn,  haggard  faces 
and  two  or  three  with  staring  eyes.  We  watched  one  this 
forenoon  (it  was  Louis  Eckers)  trying  to  put  a  watch- 
tackle  strop  on  the  lee  lower  maintop-sail-brace  ;  the  job 
amounted  to  nothing  more  than  standing  on  the  bitts  and 
twisting  a  bit  of  rope  around  the  brace  ;  but  so  weak  and 
stiffened  was  he  that  another  man  had  to  be  called  in  his 
stead.  Some  of  the  younger  fellows  are  still  in  pretty 
good  condition,  such  as  Broadhead,  Charley,  and  Olsen  ; 
but  most  of  the  older  men  are  practically  half  dead.  I 
think  the  most  remarkable  of  all  of  a  sailor's  characteristics 
is  the  rapidity  with  which  they  forget  their  hardships  ;  for 
let  Jack  get  up  into  the  balmy  Trades  again  and  all  of  his 
misery  and  pain  vanish,  the  memory  of  what  he  has  but 

226 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

just  endured  fades  away,  and  when  he  has  been  ashore  for 
a  week  at  the  end  of  the  voyage,  he  is  quite  ready  again  to 
face  the  snow-thickened  gales  of  Cape  Horn. 

All  hopes  of  a  rapid  passage  have  now  been  abandoned, 
for  we  have  been  ten  weeks  at  sea  to-day  and  are  not  yet 
around  Cape  Horn.  It  will  be  recalled  that  we  were  in  the 
longitude  of  the  Cape  a  few  days  ago,  but  heaven  only 
knows  when  we  can  make  up  what  we  have  lost  since  then. 
Our  distance  east  of  the  Horn  now  is  not  more  than  seventy- 
five  miles,  and  it  does  seem  remarkable  that  we  cannot 
make  those  few  miles  of  westing  ;  and  we  see  now  why  all 
the  sailing  directions  say,  ' '  Whatever  you  do,  make  west- 
ing !  make  westing  f '  Even  though  the  wind  is  at  south- 
west, as  we  have  had  it  almost  constantly,  one  would  think 
that  by  standing  well  to  the  southward  a  ship  could  get  a  lay 
up  past  the  Cape  ;  but  what  with  a  two-knot  easterly  cur- 
rent, two  points  of  leeway,  and  22°  of  easterly  variation, 
not  to  mention  her  being  seven  points  of?  the  wind  under 
such  short  canvas,  it  is  actually  impossible.  A  yacht  might 
do  it,  for  she  could  go  to  windward  under  a  storm-try-sail 
to  an  appreciable  extent  ;  but  if  a  square-rigger  holds  her 
own  and  makes  no  easting  on  the  port  tack  with  the  wind 
blowing  hard  from  the  southwest  off  Cape  Horn,  she  is 
doing  very  well. 

At  five  this  morning  the  wind  backed  to  south  and  hope 
glowed  warm  in  the  hearts  of  the  men  ;  but  it  didn't  take 
it  long  to  shift  back  again  to  its  old  quarter,  between  south- 
west and  west-southwest,  and  the  old  man  now  makes  no 
bones  about  our  being  real  bona  fide  Jonahs.  It  is  growing 
colder,  too,  the  noon  temperature  being  31°,  though  no 
lower  at  night,  but  the  wind  is  as  cutting  and  clammy  and 
dank  as  the  breath  of  an  iceberg.  Some  ship-masters,  on 
account  of  the  prolonged  head  gales  and  seas  of  Cape  Horn, 
prefer  the  Good   Hope  voyage  when  bound  from   North 

227 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

Atlantic  ports  to  California  or  British  Columbia  ;  but  while 
the  winds  are  fair  in  the  Southern  Ocean  on  this  course,  the 
distance  is  so  much  greater  that  it  is  doubtful  whether  or 
not  there  is  any  advantage  in  it.  The  latest  example  is  the 
case  of  the  British  ship  ' '  Wasdale, ' '  which  reached  San 
Francisco  not  very  long  ago,  one  hundred  and  sixty-five 
days  from  London  via  Good  Hope,  having  sailed  the 
enormous  distance  of  twenty-four  thousand  five  hundred 
and  twenty-six  miles  ;  the  Horn  voyage  averages  three 
weeks  less  in  time  than  the  above  and  six  thousand  miles 
less  in  distance.  The  ' '  Wasdale' '  must  be  a  smart  ship  to 
cover  nearly  twenty-five  thousand  miles  in  that  time. 

It  seems  very  odd  that  we  have  as  yet  met  no  homeward- 
bounders,  as  we  have  been  several  times  right  in  their  track  ; 
the  skipper  says,  however,  that  there  are  doubtless  a  dozen 
vessels  within  a  radius  of  fifty  miles,  all  bound  to  the  west- 
ward.    Latitude,  57°  25'  south  ;  longitude,  60°  5'  west. 

July  21 

' '  Land  close  aboard  on  the  lee-quarter,  sir, ' '  was  the  start- 
ling information  that  the  mate  called  down  the  companion- 
way  about  daylight,  as  we  sat  down  to  breakfast  this  morning. 
It  didn'  t  take  the  captain  more  than  three  or  four  seconds 
to  reach  the  deck,  and  we  heard  him  cry  savagely,  ' '  All 
hands  wear  ship  ;  lively  now,  lively."  And  none  too  soon, 
for  there  on  the  lee  beam  lay  Hermite  Island  only  three  or 
four  miles  away.  This  is  one  of  a  cluster  known  as  the 
Hermite  Islands,  being  seven  in  number  altogether  ;  they 
form  the  culminating  group  of  the  Tierra  del  Fuegian 
archipelago,  of  which  Cape  Horn  is  the  southernmost.  We 
must  have  made  more  westing  than  the  captain  had  esti- 
mated, for  he  had  just  remarked  that  we  ought  to  see  the 
Horn  again  at  nine  o'clock.  Of  course  we  wore  as  quickly 
as  the  stiffened  arms  of  the  men  would  permit,  and  for  quite 

228 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

a  long  while,  in  a  dismal  rain,  we  ran  down  parallel  with 
these  dreary  shores,  on  which  we  would  have  struck  had 
daylight  been  a  couple  of  hours  later.  If  our  position  of 
yesterday  wasn't  a  false  one,  we  did  phenomenally  well 
during  the  past  twenty-four  hours,  for  the  land  that  we  first 
saw  this  morning,  and  which  the  skipper  recognized  at  once, 
is  eighty  miles  west  of  yesterday's  position.  But,  good 
gracious  !  we  were  at  noon  to-day  within  eight  miles  of 
where  we  were  last  Friday  in  the  heavy  gale  !  The  latitude 
was  exactly  the  same  and  we  were  eight  miles  farther  west. 
Eight  miles  in  five  days.  How  does  that  sound?  And 
every  day  of  it  fight,  fight,  fight  against  head-winds  vary- 
ing from  a  moderate  to  a  whole  gale.  In  truth,  the  famous 
Cape  weather  is  being  administered  in  heroic  doses.  Per- 
sonally, I  don't  mind  it  in  the  least ;  weeks  or  even  months 
of  it,  if  necessary,  would  be  quite  immaterial  to  me;  but  the 
interior  of  the  cabin  is  so  abominably  uncomfortable  for  my 
wife,  bar  our  own  room,  that  for  this  reason  I  want  to  get 
out  of  it  as  quickly  as  possible.  This  gloomy  weather,  too, 
is  dreadfully  trying  for  her,  as  it  is  too  dark  to  read  below 
without  a  lamp  at  even  the  brightest  part  of  the  day. 

At  ten  we  opened  out  Cape  Spencer,  a  magnificent  head- 
land at  the  southern  end  of  Hermite  Island,  and  an  hour 
later  sighted  Horn  Island  for  the  second  time,  bearing 
northeast  true,  distant  eighteen  miles.  It  was  the  first 
really  good  look  we  had  had  at  the  Horn,  and  the  world- 
famous  rock  presented  quite  a  formidable  appearance,  being 
five  hundred  feet  in  height,  though  lacking  the  majestic 
dignity  of  Cape  Spencer,  which  lies  twenty-five  miles  west- 
northwest  of  it.  Indeed,  there  is  no  particular  landmark 
about  it  to  cause  Horn  Island  to  stand  forth  from  the  sur- 
rounding crags.  Many  people  imagine  that  the  Cape  was 
so  called  from  its  resemblance  to  a  horn,  but  this  is  a  mis- 
take.    The  proper  name  is  Cape  Hoorn,  which  was  given 

229 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

it  in  1616  by  the  Dutch  navigator  Schouten,  in  honor  of 
his  native  town  in  Flanders.  On  the  other  hand,  False 
Cape  Horn,  about  fifty  miles  northwest  of  the  true  cape,  at 
the  extremity  of  Hardy  Peninsula,  bears  a  remarkable 
likeness  to  an  inverted  curved  cornucopia,  and  also  a  re- 
semblance to  the  fantastic  Cape  Split  in  the  Bay  of  Fundy, 
at  the  entrance  to  the  Minas  Basin.  It  was  our  cherished 
desire  to  photograph  Horn  Island,  but  we  were  prevented 
by  the  disadvantageous  conditions  ;  so  far  as  known,  it  has 
been  photographed  but  once,  and  that  by  Captain  Rivers  of 
the  American  ship  "A.  G.  Ropes,"  who,  a  short  time 
since,  when  bound  to  the  westward,  sailed  boldly  in  to 
within  a  few  miles  and,  during  a  bright  spell  of  weather, 
was  enabled  to  obtain  a  photograph  of  the  great  Cape. 

This  is  the  second  time  that  we  have  been  west  of  the 
Horn,  if  only  a  few  miles,  and  here  we  go  back  again  to 
the  eastward  on  the  starboard  tack,  with  the  wind  a  strong 
breeze  from  southwest  by  south.  We  are  steering  about 
south-southeast  and  the  variation  makes  it  south,  which 
would  be  passable  were  it  not  for  the  leeway  and  current, 
so  that,  in  spite  of  the  variation,  south-southeast  is  our 
actual  course.  Good-by  for  a  few  days,  friend  Horn  ; 
perhaps  we'll  pay  you  another  visit  in  a  week  or  so.  In- 
deed, the  most  satisfactory  manner  of  ascertaining  one's 
exact  position  down  here  after  a  week  or  two  of  gales  and 
dark  weather  is  to  set  out  and  look  for  Cape  Horn,  which 
will  no  doubt  be  found  in  two  or  three  days,  take  a  fresh 
departure  from  it,  and  then  away  south  again.  This  is 
actually  what  we  have  been  doing,  only  we  missed  the 
Cape  this  last  time,  but  found  an  equally  satisfactory  land- 
mark in  Spencer  ;  if  a  ship-master  can  calculate  his  longi- 
tude to  within  a  degree  (about  thirty-five  miles)  in  the 
midst  of  all  these  currents,  he  is  a  shrewd  navigator.  By 
the  way,  what  appropriate  names  have  been  given  to  vari- 

230 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

ous  portions  of  wild  and  comfortless  Tierra  del  Fuego  ;  on 
the  chart  now  before  me  appear  such  appellations  peculiarly 
distinctive  of  this  region  :  Last  Hope  Inlet,  Desolation 
Island,  Dislocation  Harbor,  Obstruction  Sound,  Famine 
Reach,  Deceit  Rocks. 

Rain,  rain  ;  snow,  snow  ;  hail,  hail.  No  end  of  it  in 
sight.  The  aneroid  has  risen  to  30  inches,  which,  with 
an  increase  of  nine  degrees  in  the  temperature,  would  in- 
dicate a  northerly  wind  ;  but  we  have  long  since  given  up 
hoping  for  such  good  luck.  At  1.30  this  afternoon  we 
saw  the  pale  sun  at  an  altitude  of  about  seven  degrees 
for  a  moment,  but  he  quickly  drew  over  his  face  the  cowl 
of  nimbus  cloud,  as  though  terrified  at  the  sight  of  Cape 
Horn.  However,  like  the  Ancient  Mariner,  '  *  we  hailed  it 
in  God' s  name, ' '  and  were  comforted  at  knowing  that  the 
orb  is  still  in  existence. 

Captain  Scruggs  and  the  mate  often  now  have  very  tur- 
bulent and  passionate  arguments,  not  to  say  quarrels,  at 
meals.  It  is  apparently  impossible  for  the  mate  to  get  his 
reckoning  right  or  anywhere  near  right,  and  to-day  when 
the  dinner-bell  had  clanged  through  the  cabin,  the  skipper 
asked  him  suddenly  and  angrily  what  his  longitude  was. 
Mr.  Goggins,  after  emptying  his  grimy  vest-pockets  of  bits 
of  tobacco,  twine,  and  infinitesimal  pencils,  quakingly  pro- 
duced a  morsel  of  ragged,  dirty  brown  paper,  upon  which 
appeared  a  variety  of  rare  and  hitherto  unknown  charac- 
ters, which  he  twisted  and  turned  at  inconceivable  angles, 
with  horrible  facial  contortions.  There  was  a  dead,  por- 
tentous silence,  **Well,  sir?"  rapped  out  the  skipper 
"I — I — I,  er — er,  about  71°  22',  sir." 

"About  71°  22',  eh?  That's  your  idea  of  the  ship's 
position,  is  it?  Just  let  me  tell  you  that  this  has  gone  far 
enough.  Do  you  understand?  How  in  the  devil's  name 
can  you  make  it  71°  with  Cape  Spencer  right  under  your 

231 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

nose?  Don't  you  know  enough  yet  to  take  a  new  depart- 
ure from  a  landmark  ?  I  did  think  you  had  enough  sense 
for  that,  but  I  see  I  was  wrong, ' '  etc. ,  etc. 

They  argue,  too,  about  the  most  trivial  affairs,  during 
which  the  skipper  all  but  blows  the  skylights  off  with  his 
hurricane  voice.  Later  on,  at  dinner  to-day,  they  quar- 
relled about  the  position  of  a  certain  San  Francisco  restau- 
rant. The  old  man  swore  that  it  wasn'  t  on  Polk  Street. 
Then  they  went  at  each  other  quite  savagely,  but  gradually 
calmed  down,  and  we  thought  it  was  all  over,  when  sud- 
denly the  skipper  hammered  on  the  table  with  his  fist,  and 
shouted,  "That  restaurant's  no  more  on  Polk  Street  than 
this  huckleberry  pie' s  a  blueberry  ;  I  mean  raspberry. ' ' 
And  he  was  so  vexed  at  his  simple  little  mistake  that  he 
thundered  at  the  boy  Sammie,  who  stands  shuddering  in 
the  pantry  during  meals,  "You,  Sam,  get  some  buckets 
of  salt-water  and  wrench  out  that  bath-tub  ;  and  if  you're 
longer  than  ten  minutes,  damme  if  I  don't  break  you 
all  to  PIECES. ' '  Sammie  has  a  woful  time  of  it  on  board  ; 
for,  besides  doing  all  conceivable  sorts  of  dirty  work, 
he  is  the  butt  of  the  ship's  company,  teased  beyond 
endurance  by  the  men,  and  kicked  and  pounded  merci- 
lessly by  both  mates.  Probably  his  most  disagreeable  and 
anxious  moments  are  passed  in  the  pantry  while  we  are  at 
meals.  His  dread  of  the  old  man  is  so  intense  that  in  his 
awful  presence  he  is  little  better  than  a  lunatic.  While  he 
is  in  the  pantiy  he  dwells  in  terror  of  a  summons  to  the 
table;  and  when  "You,  Sam  !"  finally  does  come  crash- 
ing forth,  and  he  reaches  the  captain's  side  in  a  single 
bound,  it  irritates  this  singular  man  excessively.  Then, 
of  course,  the  mate  must  needs  rake  up  some  fancied 
grievance  against  the  unhappy  lad,  who  is  immensely  re- 
lieved when  he  is  ordered  in  disgrace  from  the  dining- 
room.     The  other  day  the  skipper  told  him,  in  my  wife's 

232 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

presence,  that  he  was  not  fit  to  carry  guts  to  a  bear.  It 
seemed  to  us  that  that  was  exactly  what  he  was  doing,  es- 
pecially as  he  had  a  dish  of  tongues  and  sounds  in  his  hand 
at  the  moment,  which  to  me  is  the  most  objectionable  of  all 
sea-food  ;  its  worse  than  burgoo  and  ham-fat.  Latitude, 
56°  12'  south  ;  longitude,  67°  32'  west. 

July  22 

Wore  round  at  eight  this  morning,  and  stood  north  and 
west  once  more  on  the  port  tack,  as  the  wind  backed  into 
the  southward  and  allowed  us  to  come  up  to  west-north- 
west by  compass,  or  northwest  by  west  true,  which  is  not 
bad.  We  made  so  little  to  the  good,  though,  in  the 
twenty-four  hours  that  it  cannot  be  said  that  we  are  doing 
anything  more  than  waltzing  up  and  down  the  sixty-seventh 
meridian.  We  have  gone  through  the  water  fast  enough, 
but  not  in  the  right  direction  ;  for  forty-eight  hours  now  we 
have  been  under  single- reefed  topsails,  and  if  a  ship  can 
carry  that  canvas  she  will  do  five  or  six  knots  an  hour  even 
in  a  heavy  sea.  A  single  reef  in  the  topsails  means  gen- 
erally whole  main-sail  and  foresail,  which  is  enough  to 
send  a  vessel  ahead  at  a  good  rate.  When  the  main-sail  is 
reefed  or  hauled  up,  though,  a  ship  goes  to  leeward  nearly 
as  fast  as  she  goes  ahead 

We  sped  over  the  water  then  at  quite  a  respectable  gait, 
and,  in  trying  to  make  a  little  westing,  if  the  skipper  is 
driving  the  ship  for  all  she's  worth,  for  both  wind  and  sea 
are  heavy,  no  man  can  blame  him.  The  men  continue  to 
grow  worse  and  worse,  and  there  are  not  six  in  the  fore- 
castle who  do  not  show  the  effects  of  exposure,  chilblains 
and  sea-boils.  The  latter  have  increased  shockingly  ; 
three  more  men  are  down  with  them,  Coleman,  Pettersen, 
and  Eckers.  Coleman  this  morning  showed  me  two  dread- 
ful-looking wrists  ;  the  left  one  was  particularly  bad,  with 

233 


BY   WAY  OF   CAPE   HORN 

a  deep  rent  or  cavity  in  the  flesh  itself  that  a  silver  dollar 
would  not  cover  ;  not  bleeding,  but  mortifying  and  slough- 
ing terribly,  presenting  a  sickening  spectacle.  Coleman 
says  that  some  of  the  others  are  a  good  deal  worse  than  he 
is.  Hapless  creatures  !  how  they  manage  to  do  any  work 
at  all  with  these  wounds  is  difificult  to  understand.  Let 
them  be  bandaged  ever  so  tightly  and  what  will  it  avail  in 
the  rough  work  ?  The  bandages  soon  work  loose,  and 
there  is  the  bare,  raw  flesh  exposed  to  the  salt-water  and 
the  rubbing  of  their  sleeves.  If  Job  had  sea-boils,  it  would 
be  safe  betting  that  they  were  the  worst  afflictions  that  he 
had.  Why  will  not  sailors  take  care  of  themselves  ashore 
and  obviate  to  a  certain  extent  such  suffering  as  they  un- 
dergo off  Cape  Horn  ?  The  youngest  and  healthiest  of  our 
men,  those  with  clear  skins,  do  not  seem  to  suffer  much 
with  these  boils  ;  and  they  say  that  another  safeguard  to  a 
certain  degree  against  them  is  to  dry  the  wrists  as  much  as 
possible  before  turning  in.  Bad  food,  though,  with  a  pre- 
ponderance of  salt  meat,  will  soon  play  havoc  with  the 
blood  of  the  stoutest  man  ;  and  while  there  seems  to  be  a 
fairly  good  variety  of  food  on  the  "  Higgins"  for  the  crew, 
yet  the  majority  of  sailors  on  Yankee  ships  are  fed  chiefly 
on  wretched,  scurvy-breeding  food.  The  name  that  Ameri- 
can ships  used  to  bear  thirty  and  forty  years  ago  for  the 
superlatively  good  rations  that  the  men  got,  is  by  no 
means  deserved  at  the  present  day  by  the  majority  of  our 
own  deep-water  ships.  Many  are  the  tales  of  starvation 
told  by  men  arriving  on  Yankee  ships  at  San  Francisco  in 
these  days  ;  I  mention  San  Francisco  particularly,  as  that 
port  has  until  very  lately  sustained  the  reputation  of  with- 
holding justice  from  sailors  to  a  remarkable  extent.  As  to 
the  stories  of  foremast  hands  lying  on  the  witness-stands  in 
court  when  defending  themselves,  I  am  convinced  it  is 
generally  not  so.     We  have  seen  several  acts  committed 

234 


BY    WAY   OF    CAPE   HORN 

by  the  mates  aboard  this  vessel  against  the  sailors  which 
would  be  regarded  as  entirely  untrue  by  a  justice  if  told  by 
a  seaman.  In  the  great  majority  of  cases  the  word  of  a 
bucko  mate  is  taken  in  court  in  preference  to  the  sailor's, 
and  in  this  way  there  is  an  inconceivable  amount  of  injus- 
tice done  to  the  latter.  For  instance,  there  are  here  at 
least  a  dozen  men  in  the  forecastle  the  word  of  any  one  of 
whom  I  would  unhesitatingly  believe  rather  than  that  of 
either  of  the  mates.  Captain  Scruggs  appears  to  be,  and  I 
believe  he  is,  an  entirely  truthful  man  ;  but  as  for  Goggins, 
he  would  lie  for  a  worn-out  chew  of  tobacco  (he  often  tells 
monstrous  falsehoods  to  the  skipper  concerning  the  men)  ; 
and  even  Mr.  Rarx  must  come  under  the  same  ban. 

It  seems  to  me  that  this  ship  makes  a  great  deal  of  water. 
Twice  in  every  watch,  night  and  day,  since  we  have  been 
south  of  50°,  the  ship  has  had  to  be  pumped  out  ;  and  in 
twelve  hours  yesterday,  when  the  wretched  pumps  broke 
down  again,  we  made  twenty-eight  inches  of  water.  It  is 
all  very  fine  to  say  that  wooden  ships  are  lighter  in  bad 
weather  than  iron  ones,  and  to  allude  to  the  latter  as  diving- 
bells,  but  this  ship  is  wetter  than  the  iron  '  *  Mandalore' ' 
was  running  before  a  heavy  sea,  and  the  latter  possessed 
the  inestimable  advantage  of  never  leaking  even  when 
driven  into  a  high  head-sea. 

Captain  Scruggs  was  in  a  state  of  mind  when,  after 
wearing  round  on  the  port  tack  this  morning,  he  found  that 
we  couldn't  head  up  much  better  than  north  true.  Of 
course,  we  had  the  customary  eruption  during  the  manoeu- 
vre, and  he  raged  quite  furiously  at  the  helmsmen,  who, 
unfortunately,  were  the  two  dullest  men  in  the  ship — Pet- 
tersen  and  Eckers.  As  I  say,  the  captain  wrought  himself 
into  wild  gusts  of  passion,  and  when  he  found  the  ship  of^ 
to  north-northwest  he  had  apparently  exhausted  all  methods 
for  easing  his  mind.      But  we  reckoned  without  our  skip- 

235 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

per,  being  a  man  of  much  resource,  and  he  conceived  a 
brilliant  plan.  After  standing  motionless  and  speechless  for 
a  full  minute  he  strode  to  the  weather  wheel-house  door, 
tore  it  open,  and  crash  !  slammed  it  to.  Again,  another 
bang,  worse  than  the  first.  Once  more  a  great  crashing 
rent  the  air  that  shook  the  structure,  while  the  old  man 
ground  his  teeth  and  worked  his  brush-like  eyebrows  as 
though  they  were  on  a  string,  as  he  stamped  over  to  lee- 
ward, muttering  to  himself  and  shaking  all  over.  It  was  a 
mirth- compelling  scene. 

A  little  anecdote  will  show  him  in  yet  another  phase  :  we 
asked  him,  a  day  or  two  ago,  who  was  the  best  helmsman 
in  the  ship,  and  he  replied,  waspishly,  *' There  hain't  no 

best  among  'em  ;  they're  all  d bad  ;  fed  like  kings,  and 

this  is  what  you  get."  Latitude,  57°  30'  south  ;  longitude, 
67°  west. 

July  23 

At  eleven  o'clock  last  night  we  heard  the  rasping  voice 
of  old  Goggins  sing  out,  "Land  ahead!"  The  captain 
turned  out  at  once  (he  goes  to  bed  now  at  seven,  and 
sleeps  till  midnight  if  the  weather  isn't  too  outrageous), 
and  immediately  ordered  the  ship  on  the  other  tack  ;  and, 
after  we  had  come  around,  three  pinnacles  of  rock  were 
seen  standing  sharply  up  out  of  the  sea,  for  the  night  wasn't 
a  very  dark  one.  They  were  the  Diego  Ramirez  Rocks, 
which,  lying  eighteen  marine  leagues  southwest  of  Cape 
Horn,  form  unquestionably  the  most  dangerous  obstruction 
:n  the  entire  Southern  Ocean,  rearing  their  jagged  peaks 
vertically  out  of  a  depth  of  two  hundred  fathoms,  right  in 
the  track  of  westward- bound  ships.  If  the  weather  is  thick 
and  dark,  there  is  nothing  to  apprise  the  mariner  of  their 
proximity,  even  if  he  keeps  the  lead  going,  until  the  thun- 
der of  what  is  perhaps  the  most  tremendous  surf  in  the 

236 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

world  warns  him,  too  late,  that  he  is  within  hailing  distance 
of  the  dreaded  Diego  Ramirez.  A  crash,  a  great  shout, 
and  lo  !  a  stately  ship  and  her  company  are  effaced  in  a 
moment  of  time,  a  few  bits  of  timber  cast  upon  the  shore 
by  those  vast  surges  of  the  South  Pacific  being  all  that  re- 
mains of  what  was  one  of  man's  most  beautiful  works,  a 
full-rigged  ship. 

The  last  vessel  to  go  ashore  on  these  rocks  was  the 
American  ship  "  Arabia"  ;  and,  although  she  went  to  pieces 
immediately,  all  of  her  crew  miraculously  escaped  and  were 
taken  off  by  another  vessel  and  landed  at  Montevideo. 
Ship-masters  call  the  rocks  Dyeego  Rammerreez',  though 
they  inconsistently  pronounce  San  Diego  as  it  ought  to  be, 
— Deeaigo.  Why  is  it,  I  wonder,  that  this  land  is  always 
spoken  of  as  being  eighteen  marine  leagues  from  Cape 
Horn?  Why  not  say  fifty-four  miles.  Yet  all  ocean 
directories  say  that  they  are  eighteen  marine  leagues  from 
the  Horn,  though  all  other  distances  are  given  in  miles. 

We  would  really  have  passed  several  miles  to  leeward  of 
the  rocks  if  we  had  kept  on,  but  no  ship-master  will  ever 
take  any  chances  with  them  ;  however,  we  are  much  elated 
at  finding  ourselves  an  appreciable  distance  to  the  westward 
of  the  Cape.  Throughout  the  day  we  have  been  fanning 
along  under  a  main-royal  !  But  that's  the  way  of  this 
region.  Yesterday  morning  under  reefed  topsails  ;  this 
morning  courtesying  quietly  along  over  an  almost  smooth 
sea,  bar  the  southwesterly  swell. 

A  few  minutes  ago,  at  about  two  o'clock,  we  witnessed 
another  exhibition  of  what  is  called  "  discipline"  on  Amer- 
can  ships,  but  what  is  elsewhere  known  as  brutality.  These 
are  the  facts  :  After  dinner  a  man  was  sent  down  into  the 
lazarette  to  bring  up  a  barrel  of  split  pease  ;  it  was  the 
luckless  Swede,  Briin.  This  man,  who  is  not  particularly 
strong  at  best,  and  is  now  in  very  bad  shape,  found  great 

237 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

difficulty  in  shoving  the  barrel,  which  seemed  to  weigh 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds,  up  the  lazarette  hatch- 
way ;  and  care  must  then  be  exercised  never  to  allow  the 
chimes  of  a  barrel  to  touch  the  deck,  as  it  would  leave  a 
scar.  Briin  finally  got  the  barrel  clear  of  the  hatch  and 
was  rolling  it  flat  along  the  poop,  when  the  mate,  looking 
as  sour  as  lime-juice,  came  hobbhng  along  the  alley-way 
and,  pointing  to  some  old  marks  in  the  deck,  said,  "  What 
d'  you  do  that  for  ?' '  Now,  I  am  perfectly  sure  that  Briin 
had  not  made  those  marks,  and  so  was  the  mate  ;  but 
Goggins  was  in  one  of  his  snarling  moods,  and  without 
further  ado  he  applied  his  boot  to  Brian's  person  with  such 
severity  that  he  fell  sprawling  over  the  barrel,  which  then 
rolled  over  to  leeward  and  struck  the  rail  with  a  loud  crack. 
Without  a  word,  or  even  a  look,  the  man  gathered  himself 
up,  and,  grasping  the  barrel,  continued  on  his  way,  only 
remarking,  "I'm  doing  the  best  I  can,  sair,"  in  the  weak, 
precise  tones  of  a  foreigner  speaking  English.  "What! 
answerin'  back  ?' '  yelled  Goggins.  ' '  Who  learned  yer 
that,  eh  ?' '  and  running  up  to  Briin,  he  seized  him  fiercely 
by  the  throat  with  his  left  hand  and  then  drove  his  right 
fist  with  full  force  into  the  man's  face.  The  latter  staggered 
and  fell  backward  half  over  the  rail  into  the  lanyards  of 
the  mizzen-shrouds,  where  he  remained  some  moments 
before  he  came  to  ;  and  then,  well  knowing  that  he  would 
have  been  pounded  almost  to  death  with  any  handy  weapon 
if  he  so  much  as  opened  his  mouth  again,  he  once  more 
started  fonvard  with  the  barrel.  This  is  a  nice  state  of 
affairs  when  men  in  the  merchant  service  of  the  United 
States  are  suffered  to  be  beaten  and  kicked  into  insensi- 
bility, and  in  some  cases  actually  killed  at  the  hands  of 
brutal,  savage  mates.  Before  we  sailed  in  this  ship  I  had 
often  heard  that  sailors  under  the  stars  and  stripes  under- 
went the  most  cruel  punishments,  in  many  cases  of  so  un- 

^3^ 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

usual  and  low  a  description  as  to  preclude  mention  in  these 
pages,  but  I  hardly  believed  it.  Now,  however,  after 
knowing  how  Yankee  ships  are  run  and  that  such  brutes  as 
Goggins  sail  as  mates  in  them,  it  is  my  opinion,  and  that  of 
my  wife  also,  who  understands  sailors,  that  the  published 
accounts  of  seamen's  cruelties  and  sufferings  at  the  hands 
of  the  officers  of  our  sailing  ships  are,  in  nearly  every  in- 
stance, true  and  straightforward  descriptions  of  what  took 
place  at  sea.  And  what  is  the  usual  result  ?  The  justice 
dismisses  the  case  with  the  remark,  ''Justifiable  discipline." 
This  is  the  way  that  the  marine  law  is  generally  adminis- 
tered in  our  lower  courts.  There  appears  to  be  but  little 
attempt  at  justice  for  the  sailor,  though  I  think  that  their 
chances  of  obtaining  their  rights  in  the  future  are  consider- 
ably brighter  than  they  used  to  be.  Does  any  one  of  the 
other  three  great  maritime  nations — Great  Britain,  France, 
and  Germany — permit  such  acts  in  their  merchantmen  as 
the  beating  of  sailors  ?  Decidedly  not.  In  those  countries' 
ships  sailors  are  treated  as  such  and  not  as  anthropophagi- 
ical  savages.  Yet  our  marine  laws  are  practically  the 
same  as  theirs.  Their  laws  are  enforced,  ours  are  not,  by 
reason  of  petty  briberies  and  deceits.  It  is  a  different 
story  on  our  steamers,  where  the  officers  would  not  dare  to 
maltreat  the  men.  Discipline,  far  better  than  we  have  here, 
can  be  maintained  without  recourse  to  violence,  which  is 
proved  by  the  vessels  of  other  nations.  Contrary  to  the 
statements  of  captains  and  mates,  who  make  them  to  shield 
their  bad  deeds,  foremast  hands  are  not  continually  trying 
to  create  a  disturbance.  I  will  leave  this  question  to  be 
answered  by  two  American  ship-masters,  who  run  their  ves- 
sels as  deep-water  ships  ought  to  be,  and  who  never  have 
any  trouble  with  their  crews.  These  two  men,  I  do  not 
say  that  there  are  no  others  (though  there  are  lementably 
few  of  them),  are  Captain  Gates  of  the  *'  S.  P.  Hitchcock," 

239 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

and  Captain  Banfield  of  the  ' '  St.  James' ' ;  these  skippers 
believe  in  decent  treatment  and  they  see  that  their  men  get 
it.  Among  twenty  or  thirty  men  there  are  sure  to  be  two 
or  three  hard  cases  ;  these  should  be  dealt  with  according 
to  their  deserts  ;  yet  on  this  ship  the  black  legs  have,  in 
every  instance  that  we  have  seen,  escaped  punishment, 
while  such  inoffensive  and  well-meaning  men  as  Briin,  Karl, 
and  others,  have  been  made  the  mark  for  the  violent  tem- 
pers of  both  mates.  The  reason  for  brutality  on  Yankee 
ships  is  traceable  in  every  instance  to  one  man,  the  cap- 
tain ;  for,  if  he  did  not  countenance  it,  such  acts  could  not 
be  committed.  It  is  passing  strange  that  American  cap- 
tains, who  have  almost  invariably  risen  from  before  the 
mast,  should  have  so  little  sympathy  for  sailors,  in  view  of 
the  fact  that  only  a  few  years  ago  they  suffered  from  the 
tempers  of  mates  just  as  now  the  men  do  who  are  under 
them.     Latitude,  57°  22'  south  ;  longitude,  68°  55'  west. 

July  24 

Our  light  winds  didn't  last  long,  for  the  cross- jack  had 
to  be  hauled  up,  the  three  top-gallant-sails  furled,  and  the 
main-sail  reefed  during  last  night.  We  made  excellent 
headway,  though,  doing  five  miles  more  than  three  degrees 
of  longitude,  though  we  were  driven  off  to  the  southward 
too  much,  being  at  noon  to-day  one  hundred  and  sixty 
miles  south  of  Cape  Horn  and  well  below  the  northern 
limit  of  drift-ice,  though  the  temperature  is  not  low,  39°  at 
noon.  Thus  far  this  has  been  a  slightly  warmer  winter 
passage  than  the  average,  though  it  will  surprise  many 
people  to  know  that  the  thermometer  rarely  falls  below  30° 
north  of  60°  south  ;  the  lowest  that  Captain  Scruggs  ever 
saw  it  was  28°,  though  a  Dutch  ship,  of  which  I  have  for- 
gotten the  name,  reported  the  mercury  as  low  as  20°  on 
one  occasion  some  seventy-five  years  ago. 

240 


BY   WAY   OF    CAPE   HORN 

Fogs  form  a  very  disagreeable  feature  of  the  Southern 
Ocean  after  the  meridian  of  the  Horn  is  passed,  and  the 
dampness  Hkewise  generally  increases.  A  pretty  good 
idea  of  the  excessive  moisture  in  this  part  of  the  world 
may  be  obtained  by  reading  the  report  of  the  surveying 
steamer  "Sylvia,"  which  was  stationed  in  the  Magellan 
Straits  for  fourteen  months.  Throughout  that  period  rain 
fell  on  an  average  for  eleven  hours  out  of  every  twenty- 
four,  the  amount  per  day  being  half  an  inch. 

As  for  fogs,  we  have  been  in  one  for  twenty-four  hours 
now,  and  a  lookout  is  stationed  on  the  forecastle-head  by 
day  as  well  as  by  night.  Indeed,  it  is  probable  that  the 
hardest  and  most  tedious  part  of  the  passage  still  remains  ; 
usually  it  is  not  very  difficult  to  reach  the  seventieth  meri- 
dian, the  heaviest  westerly  gales  generally  being  experi- 
enced between  that  point  and  50°  south,  which  vessels  aim 
to  cross  in  90°  west.  We  should  very  much  like  to  see 
the  wind  come  out  of  the  southwest  again,  by  which  it  will 
be  perceived  how  hard  we  are  to  please  ,  for  the  first  ten 
days  off  Cape  Horn  we  had  nothing  but  southwesterly 
gales,  and  we  rebuked  them  and  would  be  satisfied  with 
naught  but  northerly  breezes  ;  now  a  southerly  blow  would 
be  most  welcome. 

This  morning  at  eleven  the  skipper  shouted  down  the 
companion-way  that  there  was  a  vessel  on  our  weather 
beam,  steering  east,  and  that  she  would  pass  close  aboard. 
So  we  went  on  deck  at  once,  and  there,  looming  high  out 
of  the  fog,  under  a  heavy  press  of  sail,  was  a  large,  three- 
masted  bark.  She  was  the  first  homeward-bounder  that 
we  had  seen,  was  probably  from  Australian  or  New  Zealand 
ports,  and  she  presented  a  noble  appearance  as  she  swept 
rapidly  by,  distant  not  more  than  a  third  of  a  mile.  She 
was  an  old-style  vessel,  although  built  of  iron,  with  no 
sheer  and  a  phenomenally  long  jib-boom,  the  practice  in 
16  241 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

these  days  being  to  rig  sailing  vessels  of  both  iron  and 
wood  with  short,  thick,  pole  bowsprits.  We  thought  she 
was  going  to  ask  us  for  her  position,  for  she  was  two 
degrees  south  of  the  homeward-bound  track  ;  so  we 
chalked  "59°"  and  "72°"  in  large  figures  on  a  slate, 
ready  to  hold  up,  for  she  was  near  enough  to  make  them 
out  with  the  glasses.  She  flew  onward,  though,  without  a 
sign  ;  and  as  it  was  none  of  our  business  what  she  was 
doing  a  hundred  and  twenty  miles  out  of  her  course,  we 
didn't  offer  any  suggestions.  This  vessel  was  a  good 
illustration  of  the  difference  in  carrying  sail  between  close- 
hauled  and  running  free,  for  we  had  nothing  set  above  the 
topsails,  while  she  was  under  all  three  royals. 

Yesterday  was  a  grand  rest-day  for  the  men, — that  is,  a 
cessation  from  being  continually  drenched  with  salt-water, 
and  a  few  days  of  this  sort  would  go  far  toward  healing 
their  sea-boils.  As  Paddy  put  it,  *' To-day's  worth  tin 
dollars  to  any  one  of  us,  sor."  It  was,  in  truth,  an  unusual 
sight  to  see  the  men  going  about  without  their  oil-skins 
once  more,  for  fully  two  whole  weeks  have  passed  since  they 
could  work  on  the  main-deck  without  these  yellow  gar- 
ments. Oil-skins  really  do  not  do  very  much  good  in  heavy 
weather,  though,  as  has  been  mentioned  before.  Nothing 
but  a  suit  of  diving  armor  would  keep  a  man  dry  on  deck 
off  Cape  Horn  ;  still,  oil-skins  keep  a  great  deal  of  water 
out,  and  also  protect  a  man  against  the  cold.  So  much 
bad  weather  lately  has  deprived  me  of  my  customary 
exercise  at  the  pumps,  for  it  is  dangerous  to  go  knocking 
about  the  decks  in  a  heavy  sea  ;  but  yesterday  I  had  nearly 
an  hour  of  hard  work,  doing  forty  strokes  to  the  minute. 
Both  watches  pumped  together,  as  a  rope  was  passed  over 
one  of  the  handles  ;  two  thousand  strokes  at  a  ship's  pumps 
is  exceedingly  lusty  exercise  if  a  man  doesn't  shirk  his  work, 
and,  I  should  think,  would  satisfy  Sandow  himself. 

242 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

As  far  as  the  atmosphere  here  is  concerned,  to-day  is  typi- 
cal Southern  Ocean  weather  :  drizzly,  foggy,  clammy,  and 
dismal  to  an  incredible  degree.  There  is  hardly  any  light 
at  all  below  at  noon,  and  everything  is  dim  and  obscure, 
in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  sun  commenced  his  southern 
journey  more  than  a  month  ago.  The  cabin  bill  of  fare, 
however,  has  not  shown  the  Aeast  symptoms  of  debility  ;  on 
the  contrary,  when  we  got  down  past  the  Falklands  the 
diversity  and  excellence  of  the  edibles  seemed  to  increase. 
The  immense  variety  of  tinned  goods  put  up  in  these  days 
is  astonishing  ;  for  to  the  old  list,  which  comprised  meats, 
pease,  and  beans,  are  added  such  things  as  spinach,  cab- 
bage, and  pumpkin  for  pies,  all  of  which  seem  to  be  nearly, 
if  not  quite,  as  good  as  fresh  vegetables.  The  only  article 
of  food  on  board  that  is  really  bad  is  the  pie-crust  ;  there 
are  not  adjectives  enough  in  any  language  to  describe  this 
atrocious  stuff.  So  surprisingly  good  is  the  eating  now 
that  I  have  copied  down  what  we  had  at  each  meal  for  one 
week,  in  the  very  worst  weather.  Here  it  is,  with  the  hope 
that  the  reader  will  not  be  bored  in  the  perusal  thereof. 

Sunday 

Breakfast. — Salt  mackerel,  smoked  sausage,  boiled  hominy,  and 
potatoes. 

Dmner. — Pea  soup,  pressed  corned  beef,  boiled  potatoes,  spin- 
ach, tapioca  pudding,  demi-tasse  / 

Supper. — Pressed  corned  beef,  fried  potatoes,  jam,  and  cheese. 

Monday 
Breakfast. — Oatmeal,  ham  and  eggs,  corn  bread. 
Dinner. — Vermicelli  soup,  beef  stew,  boned  turkey,  asparagus, 

boiled  potatoes,  deep  apple  pie. 
Supper.— ^oxv^A    turkey,    corned-beef    hash,    baked    potatoes, 

canned  strawberries,  "  Hamburg  process." 

Tuesday 
Breakfast.— Ytv^(\  tripe,  scrambled  eggs  (questionable),  griddle- 
cakes. 

243 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

Dinner. — ^Vegetable  soup,  Hamburg  steak  of  fresh  pork,  Boston 
baked  beans,  pumpkin  pie. 
Supper. — Mutton  stew,  baked  beans,  stewed  corn,  marmalade. 

Wednesday 
Breakfast. — Oatmeal,  salt  herring,  bacon,  potatoes,  rolls. 
Dinner.— Oyster  soup,  prawn  curry  and  rice,  boned  turkey  and 
string-beans,  blackberry  pie. 

Supper. — Salt  beef  stew,  baked  potatoes,  stewed  apples,  canned 
pears. 

Thursday 

Breakfast. — Hominy,  bacon  and  eggs,  m.uffins. 
Dinner. — Beef  broth,  roast  fresh  pork,  asparagus,  tinned  plum 
pudding. 
Supper. — Boned  chicken,  corned-beef  hash,  rolls,  fig  preserves. 

Friday 

Breakfast. — Smoked  salmon,  omelette  (questionable),  rice  pan- 
cakes. 

Dinner. — Clam  chowder,  picked-up  codfish,  meat  pie,  pease, 
huckleberry  pie. 

Supper. — Fish-balls,  cold  tongue,  marmalade. 

Saturday 
Breakfast.— Lobster  curry  and  rice,  bacon  rolls. 
Dinner. — Vegetable  soup,  roast  fresh  pork,  Boston  beans,  maca- 
roni, quince  pie. 

Supper. — Cold  pork,  baked  potatoes,  baked  beans,  stewed 
prunes. 

To  this  excellent  bill  of  fare  I  must  add  that  every  single 
item  is  of  the  very  best,  and  when  it  is  mentioned  that  the 
ship  was  stored  by  Morris  &  Co. ,  who  include  the  White 
Star  Line  among  their  patrons,  further  comment  is  hardly 
necessary.  All  the  pickles  and  preserves  are  in  glass  jars 
and  put  up  by  Crosse  &  Blackwell,  Worcestershire  sauce 
by  Lea  &  Perrin,  while  olives,  Edam  cheese,  and  several 
varieties  of  biscuits  are  always  on  the  table.  With  such 
eating,  we  can  exclaim  with  Nansen,  *'  Are  we  to  be  pitied 

244 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

when  such  cheer  for  the  inner  man  is  provided  ?"  Coffee 
that  is  actually  delicious  washes  down  all  these  good  things. 
Would  that  sailors  fared  as  well  in  proportion. 

But  oh,  the  surroundings  !  The  captain  in  his  table  man- 
ners really  isn'  t  so  very  much  out  of  the  way,  but  the  mate 
and  the  table-cloth  are  utterly  beyond  language.  The  crust 
of  dirt  upon  every  visible  portion  of  old  Goggins's  anatomy 
is  rapidly  increasing,  and  mire  of  various  sorts  is  crystal- 
lized in  the  folds  of  his  corrugated  skin.  It  is  true  that  the 
second  mate  of  the  ' '  Mandalore' '  was  no  better,  but  then 
he  didn't  eat  with  us,  while  this  creature  does,  instead  of 
with  his  pachydermatous  relatives  in  the  sty. 

The  table-cloth  is  a  marvellous  piece  of  work  at  the  end 
of  the  third  day,  with  islands  of  gravy,  continents  of  soup, 
lakes  of  coffee,  and  dollops  of  all  kinds  of  grease,  so  that 
it  looks  like  a  sort  of  hideous  crazy  quilt.  All  this  could 
be  avoided  by  using  a  piece  of  white  oil-cloth  instead  of  the 
soiled  cotton  cloth,  and  it  could  be  wiped  clean  after  each 
meal.  But  no  deep-water  skipper  who  ever  lived  could  be 
induced  to  abandon  his  table-cloth,  which  he  cherishes 
with  an  extravagant  affection.  To  him  it  is  one  of  the 
boundaries  between  the  cabin  and  the  forecastle,  and  any- 
thing reminding  him  of  those  evil  days  when  he  himself 
lived  in  that  odious  den  is  too  monstrous  for  thought.  Lati- 
tude, 58°  40'  south  ;  longitude,  72°  west. 

July  25 

And  still  to  the  southward  we  go.  A  little  more  of  this 
will  be  more  than  sufficient  ;  but  the  northwesterly  winds 
continue,  and  we  cannot  choose  but  steer  whither  they  will 
permit  us.  Already  we  are  nearly  four  degrees  south  of 
the  Horn,  and  we  will  no  doubt  cross  the  sixtieth  parallel 
in  a  short  time.  Many  captains  prefer  going  even  as  far  as 
64°  south,  and  make  their  westing  down  there  where  the  de- 

245 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

grees  of  longitude  are  less  than  thirty  miles,  and  then  steer 
north  on  a  meridian,  if  they  can.  If  they  can.  Ah  !  that's 
the  point  ;  for  often,  after  penetrating  far  into  the  high  lati- 
tudes, they  cannot  get  north  again  when  they  want  to,  and 
these  vessels  then  make  very  long  passages.  For  instance, 
about  three  years  ago  several  ships  were  in  sight  of  each 
other,  all  bound  to  the  westward.  Some  of  them,  including 
the  *  *  Reuce, ' '  a  Yankee  ship,  of  which  Mr.  Rarx  was  then 
second  mate,  knocked  about  near  the  land,  waiting  for  a 
slant ;  the  others  dove  into  the  southward  immediately,  in- 
cluding the  '  *  St.  Paul. ' '  All  of  the  latter  made  very  long 
passages,  the  * '  Reuce' '  having  discharged  her  cargo  in 
San  Francisco  and  commenced  reloading  before  the  ' '  St. 
Paul' '  arrived.  Captain  Scruggs  is  one  of  those  who  do 
not  advocate  the  southern  passage,  and  he  has  no  chart 
that  reaches  below  58°  south,  so  that  my  track  chart  of  the 
world  is  the  only  one  that  can  be  used  just  now.  This 
doesn't  seem  right,  for  ships  in  the  Cape  Horn  trade  ought 
to  be  provided  with  charts  to  the  South  Polar  Circle.  Sup- 
pose a  ship  were  blown  down  among  the  South  Shetlands 
without  a  chart  ?  Such  a  thing  is  quite  possible,  and  once 
in  that  archipelago  without  a  knowledge  of  the  land  or  any 
of  the  courses,  a  ship  would  stand  mighty  little  chance  of 
getting  out  again  in  bad  weather. 

This  wind  is  just  exactly  in  the  wrong  place  ;  of  course, 
we  could  go  round  on  the  other  tack,  but  we  couldn't  do 
better  than  north-northeast  by  compass,  which  would  be 
an  absurd  course,  so  we  have  to  go  pegging  away  at  it  and 
trust  to  luck.  We  are  now  almost  exactly  south  of  New 
York,  and  can  imagine  the  people  eating  and  sleeping  there 
at  the  same  time  that  we  do  ourselves,  though  under  some- 
what different  conditions.  Steady  rain  has  commenced 
again  ;  the  aneroid  stands  at  29,  and  the  melancholy, 
doleful  appearance  of  the  heavens  and  the  sea  has  appar- 

246 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

ently  increased.      Latitude,  59°  40'  south  ;  longitude,  75° 
20'  west. 

July  26 

At  last  we  are  steering  our  course,  west- northwest  true. 
A  very  light  breeze  has  just  now  (4  p.  M. )  begun  to  breathe 
softly  out  of  the  southeast,  so  faint  that  we  are  not  doing  a 
mile  an  hour  against  a  head-sea  ;  but  even  such  a  progres- 
sion is  most  welcome,  being  in  the  right  direction. 

We  had  all  the  wind  that  we  wanted  yesterday  after- 
noon, though  from  the  westward.  It  began  to  blow  hard 
at  three  o'clock,  and  at  4.30  the  upper  fore-  and  mizzen- 
top-sails  were  clewed  up  ;  the  main-topsail  was  double- 
reefed  at  five  ;  the  main-sail  was  furled  at  six  ;  at  seven 
the  foresail  was  hauled  up,  and  it  was  blowing  a  furious 
gale.  So  violent  was  the  wind  that  all  hands  v/ere  more 
than  an  hour  and  a  half  making  fast  the  foresail  alone.  At 
midnight  there  wasn'  t  a  breath  of  wind,  and  we  have  ever 
since  floundered  about  in  a  heavy  swell  from  several  simul- 
taneous directions,  and  we  presented  the  singular  appear- 
ance of  a  ship  becalmed  under  a  double-reefed  maintop- 
sail.  Of  such  is  the  weather  in  the  heart  of  the  Southern 
Ocean.  We  have  crossed  the  sixtieth  parallel,  and  at  noon 
we  were  two  hundred  and  forty  miles  farther  south  than 
Cape  Horn  ;  and  so  silent  and  desolate  is  this  vast  ocean 
that,  like  Nansen  in  the  "  Fram,"  we  pursue  our  journey 
in  deepest  solitude,  a  molecule  in  this,  the  largest  body  of 
water  on  the  globe. 

There  is  no  alteration  in  the  dark  weather,  save  that  at 
one  this  afternoon  the  sun  showed  himself  for  a  moment, 
and  I  tried  to  get  an  ex-meridian,  but  failed  because  of  the 
poor  horizon.  It  has  now  been  almost  a  fortnight  since 
we  have  had  either  a  chronometer  or  a  meridian  sight,  and 
our  reckoning  is  probably  far  from  true.     There  is  always 

247 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

something  adverse  in  taking  sights  down  here  ;  for,  if  the 
sun  isn't  obscured,  a  bad  horizon  makes  the  correct  ahi- 
tude  impossible  ;  and  if  the  sea-rim  is  well  marked,  there  is 
sure  to  be  a  gale  of  wind  blowing  to  drench  the  sextant 
with  spray.  Happy  is  the  mariner  who  can  get  an  accu- 
rate observation  once  every  ten  days  south  of  Cape  Horn, 
and  ships  often  reach  30°  south  in  the  Pacific  without  a 
glimpse  of  the  sun.  At  four  yesterday  afternoon  the 
heaviness  and  the  oppressiveness  and  foreboding  look  of 
the  atmosphere  were  almost  terrible;  while  the  disk  of 
the  sun,  weak  and  pale  through  the  mist-squalls,  glared 
down  upon  the  wild  scene  with  sickly  eye.  Hope  has 
arisen  within  our  breasts,  though,  with  the  present  south- 
easterly airs,  and  perhaps  it  will  not  be  long  now  until 
we  are  in  bright  sunshine  again,  which  will  dry  out  every- 
thing below.  The  stove  seems  powerless  to  reduce  the 
humidity  of  the  cabin,  and  the  condition  of  the  dining-room 
is  absolutely  outrageous. 

At  supper  last  evening  we  had  a  pleasant  little  diversion. 
An  unexpectedly  heavy  sea  had  come  up  from  the  north- 
west, which,  catching  the  ship  on  the  quarter,  would  heave 
her  over  to  leeward  in  tremendous  rolls.  The  supper-bell 
had  rung,  and  my  wife  and  I  had  seated  ourselves  at  the 
table  on  the  weather-side,  the  cat  perching  itself  between  us 
upon  the  bench  ;  the  skipper  and  mate  had  not  yet  come  in. 

At  that  moment  these  were  the  contents  of  the  table  : 
four  dinner-plates,  four  saucers,  two  plates  of  bread  and 
biscuit,  a  large  dish  of  baked  potatoes,  a  platter  of 
corned-beef  hash,  a  pressed  tongue,  a  dish  of  butter,  a 
glass  jar  of  marmalade,  a  basin  of  stewed  apples,  and 
innumerable  knives,  forks,  and  spoons.  All  at  once  there 
came  that  peculiar  motion  that  always  precedes  an  un- 
usually heavy  roll  in  a  sailing  ship.  We  grasped  the  long 
bench  with  the  grip  of   death.     One  short  roll  to  wind- 

248 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

ward,  and  then  began  the  deep,  ponderous,  resistless  lurch 
to  leeward.  Over  she  went,  leisurely  and  quietly,  and 
still  farther,  till  she  must  have  been  rail  under.  At  this 
moment  a  dusky  object  shot  by  us  with  incredible  speed  ; 
it  was  the  steward,  who  vanished  backward  into  the  open 
store-room  opposite,  and  we  saw  him  not  again  for  several 
minutes.  The  last  part  of  him  to  fade  out  of  sight  was  his 
ghastly  smile  disappearing  through  the  doorway.  Then 
various  objects  began  to  fetch  away  in  the  pantry, — tin 
cans,  cups  and  saucers,  gradually  increasing  to  an  allegro 
furioso ;  and,  finally,  with  a  frightful  clash,  like  the  climax 
of  a  full  orchestra,  the  entire  contents  of  the  table  swept 
grandly  across  to  leeward,  and  fell  like  an  avalanche  against 
the  opposite  wall.  For  the  moment  we  were  stunned  by  the 
appalling  crash,  and  then  there  smote  upon  our  ears  a  shriek 
whose  equal  cannot  be  conceived.  It  swelled  now  from  a 
low  murmur  to  a  perfectly  infernal  scream,  like  the  screech 
of  a  fog  siren,  and  anon  sank  down  again,  like  the  moan- 
ing wail  of  the  Irish  death-cry.  It  was  the  cat.  At  first  we 
thought  that  it  was  buried  under  the  hurricane  of  dishes, 
and  looked  to  see  it  lying  in  slithers  upon  the  f^oor.  But 
no  ;  his  tail  had  been  nipped  in  the  movable  back  with 
which  the  benches  are  provided,  and  the  harder  we  pushed 
back  against  it  to  prevent  ourselves  from  being  projected 
across  the  table  the  fiercer  was  the  grip  on  the  tail.  We 
could  not  release  the  unhappy  animal  without  unpleasant 
results,  not  to  say  injury,  to  ourselves,  and  we  could  but 
sit  and  hearken  to  its  dreadful  voice. 

Solemnly  and  slowly  the  ship  righted,  and  a  scene  of  re- 
markable devastation  confronted  us.  On  the  table  two 
articles  remained,  a  saucer  and  a  shallow,  empty,  wooden 
box,  used  to  chock  things  off  in.  Everything  else  had 
crashed  against  the  opposite  wall  with  such  terrific  energy 
that  the  plates  and  dishes  were  reduced  to  the  minutest 

249 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

fragments.  Before  it  finally  found  a  resting-place  the 
cylindrical  roll  of  tongue  had  carromed  separately  on  each 
baked  potato  ;  a  large,  unbroken  platter  slid  back  and 
forth  on  the  floor  like  a  toboggan  upon  a  slick,  gleaming 
path  of  apple-sauce ;  the  butter  was  face  down  in  the 
extreme  corner  of  the  store-room  ;  and  the  elliptical  wad 
of  corned-beef  hash  loomed  up  brown  and  moist  upon 
the  opposite  panel,  where  it  had  stuck  like  a  wet  snow- 
ball. 

When  the  final  clatter  had  calmed  down  like  the  distant 
mumblings  of  a  thunder-storm,  the  steward  protruded  his 
scared  face  around  the  angle  of  the  doorway,  and,  urged 
by  the  saw-like  voice  of  the  skipper,  who  had  now  flown 
into  a  passion,  and  was  standing  at  the  threshold,  began  to 
slowly  gather  up  the  fragments  of  our  once  succulent  re- 
past. We  contrived  to  fare  pretty  well,  though,  by  scraping 
off  the  tongue  and  opening  a  tin  of  pease  and  tomatoes  ; 
and  we  would  have  treated  the  whole  aflair  as  a  joke  had 
it  not  been  for  the  old  man's  temper.  He  was  thoroughly 
angry,  and  when  I  observed  that  on  the  ' '  Mandalore' '  we 
had  racks  four  inches  high  instead  of  two,  and  that  we 
broke  not  a  dish  or  a  cup  during  the  passage,  he  almost 
suffocated,  and  after  glaring  at  us  a  moment,  leaning 
against  the  mizzen-mast  at  the  head  of  the  table,  he 
snarled,  ' '  I  druther  set  right  down  and  eat  offen  the  floor 
than  have  sech  things  on  the  table." 

Indeed,  he  has  been  in  a  violent  mood  all  day  at  the 
light  weather,  and  a  growl  is  all  that  he  has  vouchsafed  by 
way  of  an  answer.  After  dinner  he  went  prowling  about 
forward  looking  for  a  row,  and  when  he  couldn't  find  one, 
he  came  back  and  threw  half  a  plank  down  the  lazarette 
hatch  at  the  poor,  mewing,  deserted  alley-cat  which  he 
keeps  shuts  up  in  the  gloom  of  that  dusky  cavern.  Lati- 
tude, 60°  10'  south  ;  longitude,  76°  20'  west. 

250 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

July  27 

Wind  east,  force  6  ;  course,  northwest,  half  west,  true  ; 
distance  run  in  the  last  sixty  minutes,  ten  knots  !  Glorious 
work  ;  it  is  the  fastest  that  we  have  gone  through  the 
water  in  several  weeks  ;  for  the  last  time  that  we  flew  along 
at  this  speed  was  off  the  coast  of  Patagonia,  with  a  west- 
northwest  gale  over  the  quarter.  The  grand  easterly  wind 
did  not  reach  us  until  the  morning  watch,  however,  so  that 
the  whole  day's  run  was  not  so  great  as  the  heading  of  this 
day's  log  would  indicate.  Yesterday,  from  4  to  8  p.m.,  we 
lounged  about  in  an  almost  perfect  calm  ;  and  the  stars 
came  out  of  a  clear,  placid  sky,  and,  quivering  and  trem- 
bling, peered  down  upon  an  ocean  nearly  motionless,  for 
nothing  but  the  ghost  of  the  southwest  swell  remained.  At 
the  present  moment  even  the  last  vestige  of  it  has  vanished 
under  the  influence  of  the  east  wind,  and  the  sea  is  silent 
and  undisturbed  save  for  the  ruffling  caused  by  the  fast- 
freshening  breeze.  Strange  weather  for  60°  south,  only 
four  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  the  South  Polar  Circle,  in 
a  locality  world-famous  for  its  seas  and  storms.  Some- 
times, as  in  our  case,  enormous  seas  are  encountered  in 
sight  of  Cape  Horn  itself  ;  but  usually  the  largest  are  seen 
to  the  westward  of  the  Diego  Ramirez,  where  the  sea  sinks 
again  to  great  depths.  This  easterly  wind  is  quite  sur- 
prising to  us  also  ;  for,  barring  one  day  of  southeasterly 
winds  when  w^e  first  spoke  the  French  ship,  four  weeks  ago, 
we  have  had  almost  continuous  westerly  gales.  Even  for 
Cape  Horn  a  month  of  such  implacable  winds  is  a  bad 
record,  for  on  an  average  an  easterly  blow  should  come 
every  two  or  three  weeks.  Our  joy,  therefore,  is  very 
great,  now  that  we  are  going  so  finely  and  heading  our 
true  course,  with  the  wind  on  the  quarter,  and  all  possible 
sail  set  and  drawing.  Another  unusual,  and  to  our  eyes  an 
extremely  beautiful,  spectacle  was  the  bright,  clear  sky  o! 

251 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

last  night,  with  the  shining  path  of  the  Milky  Way  encir- 
chng  the  heavens  with  its  girdle  of  gold-dust ;  the  stately 
form  of  the  Crux  Australis,  now  at  the  zenith  ;  and  in  the 
south,  forty-five  degrees  above  the  horizon,  those  two  weird 
nebulae,  the  Magellan  Clouds,  gazing  down  at  us  with  wan, 
dim  eyes. 

Still  another  source  of  delight  is  the  fact  that  for  the  first 
time  in  three  weeks  I  have  been  able  to  wear  foot-gear 
other  than  rubber  boots.  My  leather  ones  cracked  from 
being  hung  too  near  the  stove,  so  that  ever  since  we  passed 
Cape  Virgins  it  has  either  been  raining  so  hard  or  the  sea  has 
been  so  heavy,  even  on  the  poop,  that  nothing  but  rubber 
would  keep  the  feet  dry  ;  and  three  steady  weeks  of  rubber 
boots  is  somewhat  monotonous.  And  sleep  !  Heavens  ! 
what  a  grand  one  last  night  was  for  peaceful,  deep  rest,  the 
first  that  we  have  had  since  we  showed  our  nose  outside  of 
Cape  St.  John.  Instead  of  the  customary  rolling  through 
an  arc  of  about  forty  degrees,  there  was  nothing  in  the 
ship's  motion  to  indicate  that  we  were  afloat  except  an 
occasional  deep  breath,  rather  pleasant  than  otherwise. 
But  I  am  writing  as  though  we  were  in  the  Tropics  and  in 
fine  weather  for  good  and  all  ;  instead  of  which,  there  are 
hundreds,  almost  thousands  of  miles  to  cover  before  the 
fine,  warm  days  begin.  At  this  season  fine  weather  cannot 
be  looked  for  till  we  cross  30°  south  in  about  100°  west,  a 
difference  of  latitude  alone  of  eighteen  hundred  miles,  not 
to  mention  longitude  at  all. 

Would  that  some  stranger  could  have  heard  the  mate's 
conversation  at  dinner  to-day  and  witnessed  his  gesticula- 
tions. The  old  man  commenced  on  the  subject  of  the  men 
who  manned  sailing  ships  in  these  days,  a  topic  that  invaria- 
bly has  him  in  a  helpless  rage  in  a  few  minutes.  ' '  Why, ' ' 
said  he,  after  a  long  speech,  ' '  I  had  a  crew  once  in  the 
'  Priscilly  Waters'  that  was  sailors,  not  farmers  ;  one  watch 

252 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

of  those  fellows  would  do  more  work  in  four  hours  than 
the  whole  of  the  eighteen  men  here  in  a  day,  and  there  was 
only  ten  of  'em  before  the  mast.  Why,  all  hands  on  the 
'  Waters'  used  to  nearly  yank  the  masts  out  of  her. ' ' 

As  in  duty  bound,  the  mate  agreed  with  the  skipper, 
which  he  did  by  sharp  jerks  and  winks  in  the  old  man's 
direction  ;  and  even  went  him  one  better  by  telling  how,  in 
ancient  days  on  the  Pacific  coast,  he  had  had  a  crew  in  the 
"Jacob  Billings,"  for  nineteen  months  on  end,  who  used 
to  lift  the  ship  clean  out  of  the  water.  But  his  manner  of 
speech  at  meals  in  the  captain's  presence  !  His  absurd, 
grotesque  ways  !  He  is  always  much  embarrassed  how  to 
begin  when  he  has  anything  on  his  mind  ;  and  I  can  see 
him  now,  grinning  and  simpering  like  a  fool,  gazing  in- 
tently out  of  the  forward  window.  At  last  his  meditations 
overwhelm  him  ;  and,  drawing  his  greasy  sleeve  several 
times  across  his  mouth  from  ear  to  ear,  he  begins  to  utter 
odd  sounds  in  his  throat,  still  staring  out  on  the  main-deck. 
Gradually  he  grows  bolder,  and  fragments  of  sentences  can 
be  here  and  there  detected  ;  when  suddenly,  carried  en- 
tirely away,  he  turns  his  bleary  eyes  full  upon  you  and 
finishes  in  a  violent  shout,  instantly  collapsing,  like  an  ex- 
hausted bellows. 

Often,  during  an  evening,  when  I  go  on  deck  for  a  breath 
of  air  before  turning  in,  he  will  discourse  thus  :  *'  I  tell  you, 
Mr.  Stevens,  Noo  York  carn't  touch  San  Francisco  for 
cheap  livin'.  Why,  sir,  I  can  git  a  meal  in  a  'igh-toned 
rest' rant  there  for  less  nor  a  quarter  of  what  I  can  East. 
Me  and  the  wife  was  passin'  along  the  street  in  San  Fran- 
cisco one  evenin'  (yer'd  never  take  me  for  the  mate  of  a 
ship,  sir,  if  you  was  to  meet  me  ashore),  and  she  says  to 
me,  says  she,  ' '  Arry,  I'm  'ungry,'  says  she.  *  Hall  right,' 
I  says,  'so  am  I.'  So  we  goes  into  a  'igh-toned  rest' rant 
and  has  a  bowl  er  soup,  a  bit  er  fish,  a  pick  er  veal,  some 

253 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

vegetables,  a  piece  er  pie,  and  a  big  cupper  corfee.  And 
'ow  much  d'ye  think  it  were?  Ten  cents  apiece.  '  Pretty 
good,'  says  I  to  th'  old  woman  ;  '  we'll  try  it  in  Noo  York.' 
So  w'en  we  got  East  ag'in,  we  went  into  a  rest' rant  on  Ful- 
ton Street,  near  the  ferry,  up  two  flights.  Oh,  it  were 
'igh-toned,  too,  sir.  They  'ad  niggers  for  waiters.  So  I 
picked  one  out  and  says  to  'im,  '  'Ere,  you,  bring  a  bit  er 
steak,'  I  says,  'some  pertaters,  and  corfee.'  Well,  I  'ad 
to  leave  the  steak,  I  couldn't  eat  it  ;  and  I  says  to  the  nig- 
ger, *  Take  them  pertaters  back  ;  I  never  eats  warmed-over 
vegetables.'  And  wot  d'ye  think  they  stuck  me?  Fifty 
cents  each  !" 

His  talking  of  restaurants  puts  me  in  mind  of  a  rather 
amusing  incident  that  happened  to  my  wife  and  me  in  Bos- 
ton a  year  or  two  ago.  We  were  walking  through  Wash- 
ington Street  one  evening,  and  being  extremely  hungry, 
stepped  into  one  of  the  many  dairy  kitchens  that  adorn  that 
thoroughfare.  We  found,  upon  seating  ourselves,  that  it 
was  a  religious  institution,  with  biblical  mottoes  upon  the 
walls,  and  we  were  amusing  ourselves  watching  the  amaze- 
ment of  the  prim,  gray  old  couples  from  the  country, 
almost  stunned  by  the  bevelled  mirrors  and  electric  lamps, 
when  we  became  aware  of  two  glaring  legends  hung  cheek 
by  jowl  high  up  on  the  wall.  One  read,  "  Only  the  right- 
eous shall  see  God. ' '  Its  neighbor,  ' '  Keep  your  eye  on 
your  hat  and  coat."  Latitude,  59°  9'  south;  longitude, 
79°  15'  west. 

July  28 

Course,  northwest  true,  distance  run  in  the  twenty-four 
hours,  two  hundred  and  seventy-eight  miles  !  Hurrah 
for  the  fair  wind  !  Long  live  the  easterly  gale  !  What 
better  conditions  could  be  desired  than  those  that  now  pre- 
vail?     A  fair,    fresh  gale,    a  sea  which,   while  rough,   is 

254 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

nothing  out  of  the  way,  and  a  splendid  position  in  which  to 
take  the  expected  northwesterly  gales  in  a  day  or  two. 
Every  square  inch  of  canvas  is  drawing  to  its  utmost  ca- 
pacity, and  we  averaged  only  a  fraction  less  than  twelve 
knots  for  the  twenty-four  hours.  Now,  in  spite  of  all  the 
old  records  of  more  than  three  hundred  and  fifty  miles  a 
day,  a  run  of  two  hundred  and  eighty  is  an  extremely  good 
one.  It  is  certainly  no  great  feat  for  a  ship  to  make  fifty 
or  fifty-five  miles  in  a  watch,  but  when  she  maintains  twelve 
knots  for  twenty-four  hours,  sailors  call  it  fast  going. 

Some  heavy  water  has  come  aboard  in  the  last  three 
hours,  as  all  sailing  vessels  are  very  wet  running  before  a 
strong  wind  and  sea.  At  this  very  moment  we  shipped  a 
comber  over  the  quarter  that  broke  entirely  over  the  cabin- 
house  with  a  crash  that  shook  the  bulkheads,  and  the 
skipper  has  just  sung  out,  '  *  Clew  up  the  royals. ' '  This  is 
still  another  fine  example  of  the  difference  between  on  and 
ofT  the  wind.  It  is  blowing  a  fresh  gale,  as  noted  before, 
which  means  about  forty-five  miles  an  hour  ;  yet  until  this 
moment  we  have  lugged  the  three  royals  without  trouble, 
and  only  clewed  them  up  because  the  sea  is  getting  ugly  ; 
by  the  wind  we  would  be  under  reefed  topsails.  The 
*'  Hosea  Higgins"  doesn't  seem  to  run  well.  Even  in  this 
sea,  which  certainly  is  not  really  heavy  yet,  she  is  em- 
phatically a  wet  ship.  The  **  Mandalore,"  a  "diving- 
bell,"  was  drier  than  the  "  Higgins"  is  now,  when  she  was 
running  before  a  sixty-mile  gale.  We  had  no  business  to 
take  that  sea  over  the  quarter  a  moment  ago  ;  indeed, 
ever  since  noon  we  have  had  heavy,  green  water  on  the 
poop,  and  an  idea  of  the  quantity  may  be  gained  when  it 
is  said  that  while  the  captain  was  standing  by  the  weather 
mizzen-shrouds  after  dinner,  a  sea  washed  his  legs  from 
under  him,  and  his  grip  on  the  mizzentop-sail-halliards  was 
the  only  thing  that  prevented  his  being  swept  down  on  the 

255 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

main-deck.  All  the  square  windows  in  the  weather-side  of 
the  house  have  been  covered  with  the  heavy,  solid  wooden 
shutters,  as  though  they  were  ports  in  the  ship's  side, 
instead  of  being  inside  of  and  protected  by  the  buhvarks. 
The  glass,  which  has  been  wonderfully  steady  for  sixty 
hours,  has  commenced  to  fall,  and  a  heavy  gale  is  probably 
overhauling  us,  for  easterly  gales  off  the  Horn  have  a  hard 
name. 

In  all  our  experience  at  sea  we  never  saw  anything  like 
the  dampness  during  the  late  light  weather.  No  rain  fell 
then,  but  so  heavily  charged  with  moisture  was  the  atmos- 
phere that  the  water  actually  ran  of^  the  poop  as  during  a 
shower  ;  and  from  the  top  of  the  wheel-house,  in  size  ten 
by  fifteen  feet,  we  filled  two  ten-gallon  tubs  in  twelve  hours 
with  the  moisture  that  condensed  upon  it ;  while  down  the 
walls  of  our  room,  separated  from  the  dining-room,  where 
the  hot  stove  is,  only  by  the  after-cabin,  moisture  trickled 
in  glistening  beads. 

The  men  have  slightly  improved,  though  they  are  still 
a  badly  used-up  lot  of  sailors.  To  what  an  apparently 
infinite  number  and  variety  of  ailments  and  mishaps  they 
are  liable  !  There  is  the  tough  and  hardy  second  mate, 
even  he  has  lost  the  entire  use  of  one  hand  by  a  trivial 
accident.  He  had  a  small  wart  or  something  of  that  sort 
on  the  back  of  his  right  hand  a  few  days  ago,  and  on  one 
occasion,  while  slacking  off  the  weather  lower  maintop-sail- 
brace,  one  of  the  ropes  knocked  of!  this  tiny  excrescence. 
Mr.  Rarx  paid  no  heed  to  it  ;  but  in  twenty-four  hours  his 
hand  had  swollen  dreadfully,  pufifing  up  like  a  huge  biscuit, 
and  where  the  wart  had  been  there  formed  a  large  sore  that 
had  to  be  lanced.  Cold  salt-water  and  friction  must  be 
looked  to  as  accountable  for  this,  for  Rarx  is  as  lean  and 
healthy-looking  as  a  prize-fighter.  Louis  Jacquin,  the 
Frenchman,  too,  another  specimen  of  rugged  health,  had 

256 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

a  finger  caught  in  a  main-brace  block  and  jammed,  drawing 
blood  ;  and  in  two  days  an  ugly  purple  rising  appeared  at 
the  base  of  the  nail,  as  large  and  shining  as  a  hot-house 
grape — so  hard,  withal,  that  a  lance  penetrated  it  with 
difficulty. 

The  best  men  in  the  ship  are  sent  to  the  helm  now,  for 
an  awkward,  false  turn  of  the  wheel  in  such  a  sea  would 
broach  the  ship  to  in  a  moment,  and  then,  good-by  pumps, 
rail,  and  everything  else  on  the  main-deck.  Latitude, 
55°  53'  south  ;  longitude,  85°  20'  west. 

July  29 

Salve  lux  benigna  !  Yesterday  morning  daybreak  came 
perceptibly  earlier  than  it  used  to,  and  by  seven  o'clock  it 
was  sufficiently  light  to  distinguish  faces  at  a  short  distance  ; 
while  this  morning,  so  much  northing  had  we  made,  that 
at  seven  it  was  broad  daylight ;  and  we  will  soon  be  able 
to  eat  our  quarter- to- eight  breakfast  without  the  palsied 
yellow  glare  of  the  lamp.  It  is  true  that  the  sky  is  still  of 
a  Saturnian  lead  color,  but  the  dark,  heavy  feel  of  the 
atmosphere  has  disappeared.  To-morrow  we  will  cut  the 
fiftieth  parallel  if  this  easterly  breeze  holds.  It  has  let  go 
to  a  certain  extent,  yet  it  blew  us  over  two  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  in  the  twenty-four  hours,  and  in  three  days  we 
have  done  six  hundred  and  fifty  miles  to  the  northwest- 
ward, which  is  extraordinarily  good  work  for  this  locality  ; 
our  position  is  simply  splendid. 

The  desire  of  Captain  Scruggs  for  wishing  to  appear 
that  he  knows  everything,  especially  in  the  presence  of  the 
mate,  is  still  very  remarkable.  Sometimes  it  is  amusing, 
but  more  often  extremely  annoying.  Frequently,  when  I 
tell  him  something  that  he  has  never  heard  of  before,  he 
will  nod  his  head  slighdy,  and,  with  an  alteration  of  my 
own  words,  repeat  the  sentence  aggressively  and  dog- 
17  257 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

matically,  as  though  it  came  directly  from  him,  and  he  was 
giving  us  the  information.  The  mate  is  completely  de- 
ceived, and  always  looks  admiringly  toward  him,  simulta- 
neously winking  and  leering  atrociously.  Moreover,  Cap- 
tain Scruggs  is  a  man  whom  you  cannot  possibly  surprise 
by  any  statement  ;  and  he  is  always  unmoved  in  the  face 
of  the  most  unusual  occurrences.  As  an  example,  we 
found,  one  morning,  having  taken  the  precaution  of  glancing 
into  the  pitcher,  that  the  syrup  contained  a  quantity  of 
foreign  substances  which  floated  about  in  it. 

* '  There  seems  to  be  a  number  of  curious  things  in  the 
syrup,"  I  humbly  ventured;  "looks  like  long-cut  to- 
bacco." Disturbed?  Indeed,  no.  He  only  clutched  the 
pitcher  from  me,  peered  ferociously  into  it,  and  growled, 
*'  Steward,  see  if  you  can't  get  this  dust  out  with  a  knife." 

The  skipper  is  likewise  completely  destitute  of  imagina- 
tion. Shortly  after  we  sailed  I  started  to  read  an  extract 
to  him  (I  was  bold  in  those  days)  from  a  collection  of  ex- 
cellent sea  stories  called  "The  Port  of  Missing  Ships,"  in 
which  mention  is  made  of  a  mate  who  was  so  zealous  that 
he  '  *  tried  to  see  how  near  he  could  come  to  standing  in 
two  places  at  the  same  time  without  splitting  himself." 
Here  I  paused  and  glanced  with  a  smile  at  the  old  man. 
But,  with  a  face  as  expressionless  as  a  tadpole's,  he  asked, 
"  Isn't  that  a  little  overdrawn?" 

The  mate  rises  to  the  most  sublime  heights  of  his  absurd- 
ities when  he  observes  at  dinner,  as  he  frequently  does,  with 
a  smirk  perfecdy  diabolical,  "  Hi  knows  the  secrets  of  hall 
the  codfish  haristocracy  of  San  Francisco.  My  old  woman 
used  to  work  in  the  Wite  'Ouse"  {i.e.,  that  city's  branch 
of  the  Parisian  Maison  Blanc)  "  as  a  fitter  ;  and  be  gar's 
sakes,  sir,  the  things  wot  I've  'eerd  is  hawful." 

He  also  makes  use  of  extraordinary  syncopations  in  con- 
versation.    For  example,  should  my  wife  ask  him  a  ques- 

2S8 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

tion  about  the  weather,  he  always  says   ' '  Sam  ?' '  which, 
being  done  into  English,  signifies,  "What  say,  ma'am?" 

Mr.  Goggins  is  also  abnormally  addicted  to  stewed 
prunes,  which  we  often  have  for  supper.  He  usually  dis- 
poses of  four  or  five  at  each  mouthful,  and  you  wait  to  see 
him  get  rid  of  the  pits  ;  but  you  are  disappointed,  because 
he  seems  to  have  swallowed  them.  At  length  he  has  fin- 
ished a  large  saucerful,  pushes  back  his  plate,  draws  his 
sleeve  heavily  across  his  face,  leans  back  in  his  seat,  looks 
fixedly  at  a  point  in  the  ceiling  with  a  wooden  face,  draws 
in  a  long  breath,  bends  over,  and  gently  blows  a  dozen  or 
so  of  prune-stones  into  his  plate,  like  a  shower  of  hail- 
stones. Then  mumbling,  ' '  Hexcuse  me,  sir, ' '  wriggles 
off  his  seat  and  out  of  the  door.  Latitude,  52°  34'  south  ; 
longitude,  89°  37'  west. 

July  30 

At  last  we  have  accomplished  the  arduous  midwinter 
passage  of  the  Horn,  having  been  twenty-two  days  ofi  the 
stormy  Cape,  or  just  about  the  average  ;  but  we  would 
have  been  at  least  a  week  longer  had  it  not  been  for  that 
friendly  easterly  wind.  We  actually  saw  the  sun  several 
times  to-day,  too,  were  enabled  to  ascertain  our  exact  loca- 
tion, and  our  calculations  proved  to  be  only  fifty  miles 
out  in  longitude  and  thirty  in  latitude.  In  consideration 
of  the  fact  that  for  about  a  fortnight  we  wrestled  with  pow- 
erful currents,  and  uncertain  ones  at  that,  the  error,  espe- 
cially in  the  departure,  must  be  considered  insignificant,  in 
view  of  the  almost  limitless  sea-room.  Whatever  may  be 
Captain  Scruggs' s  failings,  he  is  a  first-rate  seaman,  and  a 
keen,  astute  navigator  ;  and  on  many  occasions  near  Cape 
Horn  we  had  opportunities  of  observing  his  accurate,  almost 
infallible  judgment. 

To  add  to  our  increasing  sense  of  comfort,  the  sun  is 

259 


BY   WAY   OF    CAPE   HORN 

mounting  very  rapidly  in  the  heavens,  both  on  account  of 
our  northing  and  by  reason  of  the  lengthening  of  the  south- 
ern days.  The  noon  altitude  was  21°  20',  a  very  respect- 
able height,  more  than  double  that  of  a  week  ago,  when  at 
meridian  the  sun,  if  we  had  been  able  to  measure  his  alti- 
tude, would  not  have  been  more  than  9°  30'  above  the 
horizon.  The  orb,  besides,  had  sufficient  power  to  raise 
the  mercury  two  degrees  at  mid-day  when  we  hung  a 
thermometer  in  his  rays. 

Off  Cape  Horn  in  winter  the  temperature  is  usually 
somewhat  lower  than  that  of  the  North  Atlantic  between 
the  British  Isles  and  the  Newfoundland  Banks  in  January. 
It  is  only  between  the  latter  point  and  New  York  that  ves- 
sels experience  such  an  intensity  of  frost  as  to  contract  the 
mercury  to  zero  and  sheath  them  in  several  feet  of  solid 
ice.  That  is,  in  the  deepest  seclusions  of  the  open  sea,  the 
weather,  even  in  the  coldest  season  in  high  latitudes,  is 
generally  mild  and  soft  compared  with  that  found  at  the 
same  parallel  near  a  great  expanse  of  land.  Indeed,  the 
comparatively  high  temperature  of  the  entire  Southern 
Ocean  in  winter  is  due  to  the  preponderance  of  sea,  the 
long,  narrow  finger  of  Patagonia  being  the  only  land  south 
of  45°,  save  some  diminutive  clusters  of  islands. 

On  the  other  hand,  though,  owing  to  the  uniformity  of 
temperature  produced  by  such  a  waste  of  ocean.  Cape  Horn 
summers  are  but  little  warmer  than  the  winters  ;  the  dif- 
ference between  the  lowest  of  July  and  the  highest  of  De- 
cember being  only  18°,  the  average  for  the  year  being  42°  ; 
whereas  in  Canada,  far  away  from  the  mellowing  influence 
of  salt-water,  there  is  an  extreme  thermometrical  range  of 
150°  between  the  seasons.  Compare  Cape  Horn's  winter 
temperature  of  30°  in  the  latitude  of  56°  and  that  of  Min- 
nesota of  55°  below  zero,  though  St.  Paul  is  six  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  nearer  the  equator.     St.  Paul's  average  for 

260 


BY   WAY    OF   CAPE   HORN 

the  year,  44°,  is  almost  identical  with  that  of  the  Horn,  the 
intense  heat  of  the  northern  summers  almost  exactly  bal- 
ancing a  degree  of  cold  not  exceeded  by  20°  on  the  Arctic 
Ocean.  Contrary  to  the  general  opinion,  the  most  intense 
cold  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  far  northern  sea  where  Nan- 
sen  travelled,  but  in  Siberia.  In  the  centre  of  that  desolate 
country  is  a  town  called  Irkutsk  in  52°  north,  or  fifteen  de- 
grees south  of  the  Polar  Circle,  at  which  the  lowest  natural 
temperature  ever  recorded  by  man  has  been  observed,  the 
spirit  thermometers  once  showing  a  temperature  of  93° 
below  zero,  or  53>^°  below  the  freezing  point  of  mercury. 
Artificial  cold,  though,  has  far  exceeded  this  reading,  as 
Professor  Dewar  obtained  a  temperature  of  about  370°  below 
zero  in  the  liquefaction  of  oxygen.  This  latter  figure  is 
about  as  conceivable  as  the  unit  of  measure  of  the  astrono- 
mer, who  adopts  as  his  basis  of  calculation  for  celestial  dis- 
tances that  extent  of  space  which  a  ray  of  light  would  cover 
in  a  year,  moving  at  the  rate  of  one  hundred  and  eighty 
thousand  miles  per  second.  In  other  words,  instead  of 
using  one  mile,  his  unit  of  distance  is  5,676,480,000,000 
miles,  which  is  known  as  a  light  year  ;  and  he  further 
crushes  us  with  the  information  that  stars  of  the  seventeenth 
magnitude  are  thirty  thousand  light  years  away. 

By  this  time  the  exhausted  reader  has  said  to  himself 
many  times,  "What's  all  this  got  to  do  with  the  Southern 
Ocean?"  So,  with  apologies  for  such  an  excursion  into 
the  infinite,  let  us  continue. 

We  are  now  kept  farther  away  than  ever  from  the  dining- 
room  stove  by  a  new  aggregation  of  garments,  very  dif- 
ferent from  the  others,  which  need  a  little  explanation.  All 
the  oil-skins  in  the  slop-chest  were  used  up  by  the  men  last 
week,  and  we  have  had  to  manufacture  some  for  them. 
Many  ships  make  a  practice  of  taking  to  sea  several  suits 
of  heavy  cotton  (which  oil-skins  are  made  of),  but  without 

261 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

being  treated  with  the  usual  mixture  of  wax  and  oil.  When, 
therefore,  a  ship's  regular  stock  of  oil-skins  has  been  ex- 
hausted, the  captain  produces  some  of  these  cotton  suits 
and  has  them  well  rubbed  with  three  coats  of  boiled  linseed 
oil,  allowing  each  coat  to  dry  ;  the  result  being  thoroughly 
water-tight,  pliable  garments,  which  will  not  crack,  as  slop- 
chest  oil-skins  have  a  curious  habit  of  doing. 

Around  our  stove  for  three  or  four  days  there  have  been 
suspended  several  of  these  suits,  so  oil-sodden  that  to  touch 
one  means  an  immense  grease-spot.  Nor  is  this  the  only 
inconvenience,  for  the  whole  interior  of  the  cabin  reeks 
with  the  stifling  fumes  of  hot,  boiled  oil. 

As  far  as  we  have  been  able  to  discover,  there  is  but  one 
article  sold  from  a  slop- chest  to  sailors  that  is  worth  paying 
for,  and  that  is  the  stiff,  black  sou'wester.  They  are  very 
comfortable,  though  as  rigid  as  a  fireman's  leather  helmet, 
and  are  lined  with  heavy  red  flannel,  with  a  band  of  the 
same  that  extends  over  the  ears  and  back  of  the  neck,  to 
the  exclusion  of  the  most  penetrating  snow-squalls.  The 
face  is  protected  by  a  wide  visor  of  the  same  inflexible  stuff, 
which  extends  far  down  over  the  neck.  As  the  old  man 
remarked,  ' '  One  o'  these  things  would  stop  a  battle-axe. '  * 
However  exaggerated  this  may  be,  though,  they  do  most 
effectively  preserve  the  cranium  from  the  severest  Cape 
Horn  hail-squalls  ;  you  might  as  well  tie  a  handkerchief 
over  your  head  as  to  wear  an  ordinary  yellow  sou'wester  in 
one  of  these  squalls,  as  far  as  protection  from  the  hail  is 
concerned. 

We  now  have  for  tea  every  evening  a  dish  entirely  new 
to  us.  It  is  a  hind-quarter  of  pig  steeped  in  brine  for  a 
fortnight  ;  in  other  words,  an  unsmoked  ham  ;  and  it  is 
the  sweetest,  juiciest  pig  meat  imaginable.  I  would  rather 
eat  it  than  the  tenderest  young  sucking  pig  I  ever  tasted. 
Another  very  successful  article  of   food  on    board  is  the 

262 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

soup,  which  is  made  as  follows  :  Empty  one  of  the  large 
one-gallon  tins  of  mutton  (put  up  in  a  liquor  like  canned 
sausages)  into  a  saucepan  ;  add  tinned  carrots,  tomatoes, 
rice,  and  barley,  boil  them  together  for  about  thirty  min- 
utes, season  well  with  a  very  little  onion,  pepper,  etc.,  and 
a  rich,  well-flavored  soup  will  be  obtained  which  would 
pass  for  stock  soup  almost  anywhere  ashore.  It  is  infi- 
nitely better  than  the  finest  tinned  soup.  The  mutton 
before  alluded  to  is  often  purchased  by  ships  in  large 
quantities  and  given  to  the  men,  alternating  with  salt  beef 
and  pork  ;  it  is  also  much  used  for  making  meat  pies  for 
the  cabin  table,  for  which  it  is  well  suited,  the  resemblance 
to  fresh  mutton  being  remarkable.  Our  last  pig  has  just 
been  slaughtered  ;  it  seemed  a  pity  to  kill  the  poor  beast, 
for  he  was  an  intelligent,  quaint  little  fellow,  very  tame,  and 
fond  of  being  petted.  Latitude,  50°  14'  south  ;  longitude, 
90°  12'  west. 

July  31 

Our  breeze  from  west-northwest  has  not  been  very  strong 
for  the  past  twenty-four  hours,  and  in  addition  we  made 
two  degrees  of  easting,  which  is  sad.  This  was  the  first 
morning  for  a  month  on  which  we  were  able  to  eat  our 
breakfast  without  lamplight,  and  in  another  week  we  hope 
to  dispense  with  it  at  supper  also.  The  weather  is  by  no 
means  clear  yet,  though,  and  we  are  now  crossing  the 
famous  Roaring  Forties,  that  belt  of  fierce  winds  lying 
between  the  parallels  of  forty  and  fifty  on  both  sides  of  the 
equator,  and  clear  skies  cannot  be  expected  until  we  are 
north  of  40°  south  at  least. 

I  expect  to  suffocate  with  suppressed  hilarity  before  long 
if  Mr.  Goggins  continues  to  grow  more  absurd.  Last  night 
I  went  on  deck  about  ten  o'clock  and  found  the  mate 
silently  pacing  athw^artships  near  the  wheel-house.      It  was 

263 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

raining,  and  his  costume  itself  was  enough  to  generate 
mirth  in  an  owl.  He  was  wrapped  as  in  a  sable  shroud,  in 
some  one's  long  black  oil-skin  coat,  which  was  so  much 
too  large  for  him  as  to  touch  the  deck,  and  the  sleeves 
hung  down  half-way  to  his  knees  like  the  arms  of  a  walrus, 
while  his  head  was  covered  with  a  very  old,  limp  sou'- 
wester, also  black,  which  fitted  him  like  a  skull-cap  ;  it  pos- 
sessed not  even  an  indication  of  a  brim,  so  that  the  driz- 
zling rain  trickled  down  along  the  musty  creases  of  his  face, 
glistening  in  the  wake  of  the  binnacle-lamp.  His  forsaken 
appearance  was  further  enhanced  by  a  couple  of  yards  of 
ancient  gray  rattlin-stuff  that  girded  up  the  folds  of  his 
coat  and  prevented  his  tramping  on  it. 

Without  a  word  he  ranged  up  alongside,  and  dropping 
his  voice  to  a  rasping  whisper,  as  is  his  wont  whenever  he 
is  about  to  reveal  a  startling  theory,  he  said,  mysteriously 
and  very  suddenly, — 

' '  The  human  race  is  on  the  decline,  sir. ' ' 

I  didn't  reply,  and  he  continued,  "Where  are  the  strap- 
pin'  big  fellows,  five-foot  ten,  five-foot  eleven,  and  five-foot 
twelve,  you  used  to  see  ?  Where  are  they,  I  say  ?  Gone. 
Go7ie.  And  wot  do  ye  find  now  ?  The  present  generation 
is  growin'  up  small  and  feeble,  sir.  They're  weak  and  no 
good.  And  luk  at  the  winds  ;  they're  changin' too.  They 
hain't  wot  they  used  to  be  in  the  Atlantic  ;  nor  in  the  Pa- 
cific ;  nor  off  Cape  Horn.  The  Trades  is  changed.  Every- 
think's  changed.  I  may  be  a  hold  fool,  sir,  but  I  knows  a 
thing  or  two.  There's  more  in  my  'ead  than  comes  out 
with  a  fine-tooth  comb." 

All  this  with  the  most  intense  earnestness  and  so  much 
stifled  emotion  as  to  render  him  partially  unintelligible, 
while  ne  snapped  and  jerked  his  long  sleeves  about  in  the 
most  uncomfortable  manner. 

Then  he  abruptly  changed  the  thread  of  discourse  and 

264 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

began,  ' '  You  talk  about  seas  comin'  aboard,  but  you 
ought  to  been  with  me  once  when  I  was  mate  o'  the 
'Commodore.'  'Twas  in  the  Santa  Barbara  Channel, 
and  blowin'  a  whole  gale  o'  wind.  We  were  runnin' ,  but 
bime  by  the  old  man  thought  he'd  heave  her  to.  So  we 
put  the  helium  down,  and  as  she  was  comin'  up,  be  gar's 
sakes,  sir,  she  shipped  a  sea  that  I  thought  was  goin'  to 
take  the  hatches  off.  'You'd  better  jump  below  and  call 
the  second  mate,'  said  the  cap'n  ;  so  I  slipped  down  the 
after-companion-way  into  the  cabin,  where  the  old  man's 
eight-year-hold  son  was  jockeyin'  a  sofy  that  had  fetched 
away,  and  says  he,  'Dad's  a-givin'  of  'er  'ell,  ain't  he?' 
he  says.  Well,  I  called  the  second  mate,  and  then  the 
cap'n  says  to  us,  'Go  down  and  cut  the  lashin's  o'  that 
ere  water-cask  by  the  after-hatch  ;  she'll  wipe  the  houses 
off  if  she  don't  free  herself.'  'Twas  a  funny  thing  to  do, 
but  he  was  cap'n  ;  so  we  crawled  down  on  the  main- deck 
where  the  watch  was  knockin'  about  and  cut  the  barrel 
adrift.  In  less  nor  five  seconds  it  went  through  the  rail, 
and  in  a  minute  there  warn't  a  capful  o'  water  on  deck. 
It  cost  about  ten  feet  o'  the  port  bulwarks,  but  'twas  our 
only  chance." 

Now  that  we  are  well  up  past  the  rigors  of  Cape  Horn, 
it  actually  seems  as  though  we  were  close  to  San  Francisco, 
while  five  thousand  miles  of  latitude  remain  and  fully  fifty 
degrees  of  longitude,  as  ships  are  forced  well  out  into  the 
Pacific  by  the  northeast  Trades.  Latitude,  48°  30'  south  ; 
longitude,  88°  25'  west. 

August  i 

Oh,  how  divinely  beautiful  and  grand  the  dark-blue  floor 
of  heaven  is  after  four  weeks  of  hard  gales,  leaden,  lower- 
ing clouds,  and  gray,  clammy  mists  !  To-day  for  the  first 
time  the  sun  shone  with  dazzling  splendor,  and  although 

265 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

the  altitude  at  meridian  was  only  26°  51',  we  agreed  that 
never  before  in  our  lives  had  w^e  known  a  day  of  equal 
magnificence.  And,  even  making  allowance  for  our  en- 
thusiasm, the  weather  was  well-nigh  perfect.  Between 
sunrise  and  dusk  not  the  smallest  cloud  blurred  the  blue 
sky,  which  was  reflected  in  a  sea  of  dazzling  crests,  whose 
valleys  partook  of  that  dark,  superb,  velvety  blue  which  is 
seen  only  where  the  ocean-bed  sinks  to  immense  depths, 
and  which  Mark  Twain  says  looks  solid  enough  to  walk 
upon.  A  sparkling  breeze  whistled  out  of  the  west  as  ex- 
hilarating as  pure  oxygen,  giving  us  a  speed  for  the  twenty- 
four  hours  of  nine  knots.  That  blighting,  killing  chill  has 
vanished  and  one's  ears  no  longer  tingle  on  exposure  ; 
and  at  noon  we  enjoyed  a  temperature  of  50°,  a  rise  of 
twenty  degrees  from  the  lowest.  What  a  change  in  six 
days  from  60°  south,  76°  west,  to  45°  south,  88°  west  ! 
Pretty  good  work  that,  in  less  than  a  week  ;  it  is  so  much 
better  than  the  average  that  it  seems  incredible.  We  can- 
not believe  that  in  so  short  a  time  we  have  been  blown 
across  what  ought  to  have  been  the  worst  part  of  the  en- 
tire voyage.      It  was  all  the  work  of  the  east  wind. 

Just  now  there  is  a  long,  deep  roll  coming  in  from  the 
southwest,  and  I  am  earnestly  looking  for  some  of  those 
immense  waves  for  which  the  South  Pacific  is  famous. 
According  to  sailors,  they  usually  occur  two  or  three  days 
after  new  and  full  moon  ;  and  as  we  had  a  new  moon  last 
night,  perhaps  we  will  see  some  of  these  rollers.  This  re- 
minds me,  however,  that  scientists  have  determined,  after 
protracted  observations,  that  the  moon's  phases  have  no 
influence  at  all  on  the  weather.  Sailors  often  say  during  a 
spell  of  bad  weather,  "  Well,  there's  a  change  in  the  moon 
to-night  ;  we'll  have  a  fine  day  to-morrow" ;  and  if  chance 
supports  their  remark,  heaven  couldn't  shake  their  belief. 

This  heavy  sea  that  is  met  with  here  is  generally  not  at 

266 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

all  ugly;  only  a  deep  heave-up  from  the  southward,  often 
without  wind,  and  is  said  to  be  one  of  the  most  impressive 
of  all  oceanic  phenomena.  The  South  Atlantic  as  well  as 
the  Pacific  is  also  visited  periodically  by  immense  seas  during 
calm  weather.  At  St.  Helena  and  Ascension  they  are 
called  *  *  rollers, ' '  while  at  Fernando  de  Noronha  and  on 
the  West  African  coast  they  are  known  by  the  Portuguese 
name  of  ' '  calemmas. ' '  They  seem  to  occur  chiefly  in 
January,  and,  strange  to  say,  they  invariably  came  from 
the  northwest.  The  quotation  that  follows  is  from  the  pen 
of  Captain  S.  P.  Oliver,  who  visited  St.  Helena  in  1881  in 
one  of  the  Union  steamers  : 

' '  These  rollers  set  in  from  the  northwest  on  Thursday, 
January  13,  with  unusual  severity,  but  lulled  somewhat  on 
the  following  day,  Friday,  only  to  recur  with  abnormal 
force  on  Saturday,  attaining  their  maximum  strength  on 
Saturday  night,  so  that  the  spectacle  on  Sunday  morning 
was  grand  and  magnificent,  while  the  weather  was  bright 
and  calm.  It  was  surprising  to  see  the  spray  of  these  deep 
ocean  waves  hurled  by  sheer  force,  for  there  was  no  wind, 
like  fountains  over  the  huge  cliffs  of  Goat  Pound  Ridge 
and  Horse  Pasture,  which  rise  perpendicularly  seven  hun- 
dred feet  sheer  out  of  the  sea.  The  force  of  these  enormous 
billows  was  spent  by  Sunday  night,  and  gradually  subsided 
into  the  normal  calm  on  Monday  morning." 

At  our  present  rate  of  sailing  a  fortnight  would  see  us 
on  the  equator,  but  if  we  cross  it  in  three  weeks  it  will  be 
fine  work.  What  sort  of  luck  are  we  going  to  have  be- 
tween these  westerly  winds  and  the  southeast  Trades  ? 
That  is  one  of  the  crucial  points  of  the  voyage  that  remain, 
another  being,  how  far  south  will  the  northeast  Trades 
blow  ? 

We  had  a  little  excitement  to-day  at  dinner.  Ever  since 
our  cabin  fire  has  been  going,  it  has  been  the  custom  of  the 

267 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

steward  to  put  a  can  of  whatever  vegetable  we  were  to  have 
that  day  for  dinner  upon  the  top  of  the  stove  to  heat ;  the 
proper  way,  of  course,  is  to  place  the  can  in  a  dish  of 
water  and  that  in  turn  upon  the  stove  or  what  not.  To-day 
it  was  a  tin  of  string-beans,  and  the  steward,  fully  an  hour 
before  dinner,  put  the  can  upon  the  stove,  which  was  nearly 
red-hot.  (The  warmer  the  day  the  hotter  the  fire,  here  as 
elsewhere.)  When  the  soup  had  been  cleared  away,  the 
gentle,  timid  little  Malay  took  the  tin  into  the  pantry  and 
attacked  it  with  a  can-opener.  But  no  sooner  was  the 
metal  pierced  than  the  whole  pantry  was  filled  with  a  suffo- 
cating steam  that  rushed  hissing  out  of  the  vent  with  the 
most  astonishing  fury.  We  sat  aghast.  The  old  man 
cursed  a  little  and  the  mate  got  up,  but  instantly  thought 
better  of  it  and  sat  down  again.  And  still  the  steam  came 
belching  out  of  the  can,  which  had  fallen  down  and  was 
shooting  about  the  pantry  like  a  demented  steam-cylinder, 
while  we  could  dimly  perceive  the  slender  form  of  the  little 
steward  through  the  pungent  vapory  clouds  making  cour- 
ageous efforts  to  lay  hold  of  the  bewitched  bean-can.  For 
nearly  a  minute  steam  continued  to  escape  with  such  force 
that  it  almost  shrieked  ;  and  had  the  tin  remained  another 
five  minutes  on  the  stove  it  must  certainly  have  exploded 
and  scattered  boiling  water,  beans,  and  jaggecJ  fragments  of 
tin  and  lead  about  the  room. 

Last  evening  at  supper  a  bottle  of  Apollinaris  burst  in 
my  hand  with  a  loud  report  as  I  was  opening  it,  scaring  the 
valiant  Goggins  into  upsetting  a  full  cup  of  tea  upon  a  clean 
cloth,  for  which  the  old  man  fixed  him  with  his  eye  and 
held  him  thus  for  quite  half  a  minute  during  an  awful 
silence. 

If  only  for  the  sake  of  the  sailors  we  are  anxious  to  get 
into  warm  weather  again  as  soon  as  possible.  Now  that 
they  have  removed  the  mufflers,  etc.,  from  their  necks  and 

268 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

heads,  we  can  see  how  pale  and  washed  out  most  of  them 
are.  There  are  only  two  among  them  who  do  not  bear 
ocular  proof  of  the  hardships  of  a  month  in  the  Southern 
Ocean  in  July.  Paddy  is  perhaps  the  worst  looking  of  the 
whole  crew,  though  he  cannot  be  thirty  years  of  age. 
This  is  due  probably  to  his  never,  under  any  circumstances, 
shirking  his  work,  and  to  his  exerting  himself  more  than 
any  one  else  in  the  ship.  Indeed,  he  was  so  full  of  nerve 
and  energy  in  the  worst  weather,  that  the  captain  surprised  us 
once  by  saying,  pointing  to  Paddy  on  a  yard-arm  in  a  heavy 
squall,  "  There's  what  I  call  a  brave  man  ;  he  doesn't  know 
what  fear  is."  The  skipper  didn't  mean  to  insinuate  that 
Paddy  was  courageous  for  going  out  on  the  yard  at  that 
moment  ;  he  was  thinking  about  his  general  conduct. 

Poor  Paddy's  arms  from  wrist  to  elbow  are  perfect 
mountain-chains  of  sea-boils,  and  he  looks  as  ghastly  and 
pallid  as  a  corpse,  with  pointed  nose  and  staring  eyes  ;  his 
entire  appearance  has  changed.  It  may  be  interesting  to 
add  that  the  majority  of  foremast  hands  do  not  live  to  be 
forty- three  years  old. 

I  forgot  to  say  that  for  the  first  time  in  five  weeks  the 
mate  shaved  for  dinner  to-day,  and  so  sleek  and  blue  and 
shiny  and  naked  did  it  make  him  look,  that  it  was  almost 
a  shock  when  he  sat  down  opposite  us.  Latitude,  45°  2' 
south  ;  longitude,  87°  40'  west. 

August  2 

This  day  was  even  finer  than  yesterday,  except  that  since 
ten  this  forenoon  we  haven't  had  much  wind.  But  the 
weather  is  warmer,  48°  at  8  a.m.,  and  the  sea  is  as  placid 
and  still  and  clear  as  under  the  line.  All  the  ground-swell 
has  disappeared,  and  the  great,  level  expanse  of  the  mighty 
South  Pacific  stretches  on  all  sides  in  tiny  crinkles,  frosted 
here  and  there  by  a  crisp  sparkle  of  froth  ;  and  the  sea- 

269 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

rim  bounds  the  view  in  a  circle  as  sharp  and  black  as  ink. 
It  was  a  day  of  almost  tropic  beauty,  save  that  the  air 
lacked  the  ineffable  balm  characteristic  of  a  day  at  sea 
between  Cancer  and  Capricorn.  We  rejoice  at  seeing  the 
sky-sails  once  more  expanded  to  the  breeze,  for  to-day 
the  three  yards  were  crossed,  giving  to  the  ship  a  fine- 
weather  look.  Juan  Fernandez  will  soon  be  abeam,  and 
then  only  a  few  degrees  more  to  the  Trades,  for  we  made 
three  and  a  half  degrees  of  latitude  yesterday  and  hardly 
any  easting.  How  pleasant  it  is  to  think  of  the  approach 
of  warm  weather  again,  when  we  can  lie  in  deck-chairs  in 
the  shadow  of  the  wheel-house  with  a  good  book,  or  pass 
away  the  hours  with  a  backgammon-  or  cribbage-board  ! 

We  are  very  much  pleased  to  find  how  free  this  ship  is 
from  roaches  that  usually  abound  in  sailing  vessels  ;  the 
only  member  of  that  objectionable  family  that  we  have  yet 
perceived  was  a  small  red  one  ;  of  the  large,  black  cock- 
roaches we  have  not  seen  one,  though  on  the  *  *  Mandalore' ' 
we  were  told  that  they  were  numerous  on  all  wooden  ships. 
Neither  have  we  discovered  any  of  the  more  villanous 
creatures,  which  cannot  be  said  of  many  transatlantic  mail 
steamers. 

A  fact  worthy  of  note,  as  deplorable  as  it  was  unexpected, 
is  that  since  passing  the  meridian  of  Cape  Horn  we  have 
not  seen  a  single  albatross.  Indeed,  during  the  whole 
passage  we  haven't  seen  more  than  a  dozen  of  them,  they 
having  been  most  numerous  between  the  river  Plate  and 
Staten  Land.  In  truth,  the  albatross  seems  to  be  disap- 
pearing, which  is  not  astonishing  when  it  is  considered  that 
many  ship-masters  either  use  them  as  rifle-targets  or  catch 
them  by  the  half-dozen  with  hook  and  line,  and  take  the 
quills  and  down  home  to  sweethearts  and  wives.  Is  it  not 
odd,  by  the  way,  that  there  are  more  benedicts  among  sea- 
captains  than  are  to  be  found  among  the  men  of  any  other 

270 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

profession  ?    Yet  long- voyage  skippers,  who  are  invariably 
married  men,  see  their  wives  only  once  a  year. 

Perhaps  the  albatross  has  been  driven  away  into  regions 
even  more  solitary  than  Cape  Horn,  but  it  is  my  belief 
that  they  are  gradually  vanishing,  which  is  to  be  much 
lamented.  They  are  of  no  apparent  use  to  mankind,  but 
neither  is  the  tiger  ;  yet  if  that  royal  beast  were  upon  the 
eve  of  extermination,  as  our  bison  is,  there  would  be  a  great 
wailing  heard  in  the  land.  The  albatross,  be  it  said,  has 
all  the  regal  dignity  of  the  bison  ;  and  no  one  who  has  not 
seen  it  can  imagine  the  imperial  flight  of  a  full-grown  wan- 
derer.    Latitude,  41°  35'  south  ;  longitude,  86°  56'  west. 

August  3 

Pleasant  northerly  breezes,  a  smooth  sea,  and  brilliant 
sunshine  gladdened  our  hearts  this  morning,  and  at  noon 
we  found  ourselves  well  north  of  40°.  The  wind  hauled 
to  the  northward  somewhat  during  the  night,  though,  so 
that,  with  the  variation,  we  did  not  make  good  a  better 
course  than  northeast  by  north,  and  are  now  heading  for 
Juan  Fernandez  in  34°  south. 

We  have  made  a  disagreeable  discovery  about  Timothy 
Powers  in  the  port-watch.  I  don't  remember  whether  it 
was  mentioned  before  or  not,  but  Tim  was  said  to  have 
fallen  of?  the  forward  house  two  weeks  ago  and  sprained  his 
right  arm.  From  the  first  the  captain  never  could  discover 
anything  wrong  with  it,  but  as  the  fellow  insisted  that  he 
suffered  terrible  pains  in  that  member,  there  was  naught  to 
do  for  a  while  but  to  believe  him.  At  last  the  skipper  grew 
tired  of  Tim's  loafing,  and,  going  out  on  the  main-deck  this 
morning,  he  gave  the  Irishman  a  very  sulphurous  dressing 
down  and  compelled  him  to  turn  to.  He  was  sent  forward 
to  clean  out  the  pig-pen,  and  he  went  to  work  with  a  woful 
countenance  to  lift  off  two  planks  that  served  as  an  apology 

271 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

for  a  roof  to  the  sty.  He  couldn't  move  them  with  one 
hand,  so  he  stopped,  looked  carefully  about  to  see  whether 
or  not  he  was  observed  by  the  mates  or  any  of  his  friends, 
deliberately  took  his  arm  out  of  the  sling  in  which  he  still 
insisted  on  carrying  it,  lifted  the  heavy  planks  down  with 
ease,  put  his  arm  back  in  the  sling,  resumed  his  pitiful  look, 
turned  to  reach  for  a  broom,  and  found  the  eyes  of  the  sec- 
ond mate  fixed  steadily  upon  him.  Mr.  Rarx  had  been  con- 
cealed and  had  witnessed  the  whole  affair.  That  settled  it. 
Tim  almost  fainted  from  shock,  and  from  now  till  the  end  of 
the  voyage  his  will  not  be  a  bed  of  roses.  Think  how  this 
creature  has  been  imposing  not  only  on  the  captain  and 
officers,  but  on  his  fellow-shipmates  as  well  !  For  two  entire 
weeks  his  most  arduous  duty  consisted  in  keeping  the  look- 
out on  the  forward  house  in  the  daytime,  perfectly  well, 
with  all  night  below,  while  his  friends,  ill  and  drenched  to 
the  skin,  had  to  dive  around  the  main-deck  day  and  night 
with  chattering  teeth,  two  hands  short  in  the  worst  weather, 
— two  hands,  because  old  Neilsen  has  been  laid  up  in  his  bunk 
with  general  debility,  too  weak  to  even  put  his  foot  on  the 
main-deck.  Tim  is  the  sort  of  animal  who  contributes 
much  to  the  misery  and  suffering  of  sailors.  A  captain,  for 
instance,  catches  a  man  in  such  a  deceit,  never  forgets  it 
and  refuses  to  believe  the  next  man,  who  actually  has  hurt 
himself,  so  that  the  real  sufferer  has  to  bear  the  penalty  of 
the  other's  fraud.  It  is  not  a  criminal  offence,  but  a  low, 
contemptible  trick  ;  though  just  such  a  one  as  a  man  with  a 
face  like  Tim's  would  be  guilty  of.  The  mate's  powers  of 
divination  are  not  particularly  acute,  for  he  observed  one 
day  off  the  river  Plate,  looking  at  Tim,  '  *  There  goes  a 
feller  that  /call  a  good,  faithful  man." 

At  dinner  to-day  I  chanced  to  remark  that,  as  we  had  had 
such  benefits  from  the  easterly  wind,  we  ought  to  accept  our 
three  points  of  easting  now  without  grumbling.      Mr.  Gog- 

272 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

gins,  however,  is  a  fearful  kicker,  even  for  a  sailor  ;  so,  think- 
ing to  please  the  old  man,  he  instantly  replied,  "  We  ain't 
had  forty-eight  hours  o'  good  luck  on  the  hull  passage. ' ' 
This  was  so  remarkable  a  statement  that  my  wife  was  pro- 
voked into  saying,  gently  but  positively,  '  *  The  man  who 
talks  like  that  doesn't  deserve  to  reach  port  for  six  months 
more."  "Well,  we  ain't,"  quoth  Goggins,  doggedly. 
Then  I  took  a  hand  (it  is  usually  best  not  to  argue  with 
him  and  the  skipper),  and  asked  as  sarcastically  as  I  could, 
'  *  I  suppose  that  three  days'  easterly  gale  doesn'  t  count  ? 
And  how  about  the  first  sixteen  days  of  the  voyage  ?  You'  re 
enough  of  a  sailor,  I  suppose,  though,  to  have  forgotten  all 
that. ' '  I  thought  that  he  was  floored  ;  but  he  w^as  pos- 
sessed of  more  vitality  than  one  would  have  supposed,  for 
he  came  back  at  me  with,  "  Well,  the  yards  was  ag'in  the 
backstays  all  the  time  in  the  North  Atlantic. ' ' 

This  was  such  a  novel  stand  to  take  that  we  let  him 
alone,  so  that  he  got  up  and  tramped  out  of  the  cabin 
much  inflated.  What  possible  difference  it  could  make 
whether  or  not  the  yards  touched  the  backstays  as  long  as 
the  ship  lay  her  course  and  went  through  the  water  was 
beyond  my  powers  of  reasoning. 

We  are  now  followed  by  an  immense  number  of  Cape 
pigeons.  What  merry,  blithesome  little  fellows  they  are, 
apparently  all  good- nature  and  love  for  one  another  as 
they  circle  around  the  ship,  almost  brushing  the  standing- 
gear  in  their  mad,  tumbling  flight,  now  skimming  just 
above  the  sea,  now  soaring  over  the  mast-heads,  and 
sweeping  down  again  for  very  joy  that  they  are  made  ! 
But  let  a  bucket  of  table  refuse  be  thrown  over  the  side, 
and  then  away  with  good-fellowship  and  fraternal  affec- 
tion. It's  a  true  case  of  every  one  for  himself  and  the 
devil  take  the  hindmost.  No  sooner  does  the  refuse  touch 
the  water  than  two  or  three  catch  sight  of  it,  and  in  an  in- 
i8  273 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

stant  fifty  pigeons  are  involved  in  furious  battle.  They 
fairly  scream  in  their  excitement,  and  beat  each  other  with 
their  powerful  wings,  and  snap  viciously  right  and  left  with 
sharp,  curved  bills.  Then  one  lucky  one  will  perchance 
seize  a  choice  morsel.  Instantly  he  is  set  upon  by  a  dozen 
of  his  companions,  who  mercilessly  bear  down  upon  him 
before  he  can  rise  from  the  surface  with  his  prize,  and  ac- 
tually beat  him  down  under  water  in  their  fierce  efforts  to 
get  at  the  tempting  mouthful  ;  but  so  plucky  are  they,  that 
we  have  never  seen  one  relinquish  anything  when  his  bill 
has  once  closed  upon  it. 

While  the  pigeons  are  engaged  in  this  deadly  strife  a 
great  molly-hawk  sometimes  looms  up  astern,  having 
sighted  the  combat  from  afar,  and  dashing  into  the  centre 
of  the  squabbling  flock,  which  scatters  before  his  huge 
wings  and  wide,  formidable  beak,  like  crows  before  a  vul- 
ture, he  snaps  up  the  bone  of  contention  and  soars  away  to 
enjoy  it  at  his  leisure.  After  the  rapacious  monster  has 
departed  from  out  their  midst,  the  dejected  little  creatures 
return,  and  hover  over  any  particle  of  food  that  may  re- 
main, ever  and  anon  diving  far  below  the  surface  for  a 
crumb  that  they  perceive  deep  down  in  the  placid  depths, 
rising  again  with  such  amazing  buoyancy  and  energy  as  to 
lift  themselves  clear  out  of  the  water,  like  an  inflated  blad- 
der suddenly  released.  They  afford  us  much  amusement  ; 
but  another  six  hundred  miles  farther  north  will,  no  doubt, 
see  the  last  of  our  merry  little  companions.  Latitude, 
39°  35'  south  ;  longitude,  85°  west. 

August  4 

Although  the  lovely  clear  skies  have  for  a  while  disap- 
peared, being  obscured  by  the  most  clearly  defined  stratus 
clouds  that  I  ever  saw,  the  weather  is  bracing  and  dry,  with 
a  sea  so  smooth  that  it  never  would  be  supposed  that  we 

274 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

were  hundreds  of  miles  from  any  land  larger  than  Juan 
Fernandez  or  its  neighbor,  Mas-a-Fuera.  Each  day  sees  a 
rise  of  two  or  three  degrees  in  the  air  and  sea,  and  we  are 
moving  well  up  into  the  heart  of  the  thirties.  We  will,  no 
doubt,  soon  fall  in  with  vessels  from  Chilean  ports  bound 
around  the  Horn  ;  but  those  from  San  Francisco  have  been 
driven  so  far  to  the  westward  by  the  Trades  that  in  this 
latitude  they  are  away  over  in  125°.  The  wind  is  still  to 
the  northward  of  west,  and  we  continue  to  make  more  east- 
ing than  is  desirable  ;  because,  if  we  have  to  steer  much 
farther  in  towards  the  land,  our  course  when  we  take  the 
Trades  will  have  to  be  northwest  in  order  to  cross  the  line 
in  the  right  place,  which,  of  course,  would  be  dead  before 
the  wind,  an  undesirable  position  in  a  square-rigger,  as  in 
that  event  only  the  after-sails  draw. 

Captain  Scruggs  was  quite  a  treat  at  the  mid-day  meal, 
for  he  appeared  in  one  of  his  majestic  phases,  when  no  one 
can  tell  him  anything  that  he  doesn't  already  know.  My 
wife  unhappily  mentioned  that  this  would  be  fine  yachting 
weather.  Now,  the  mere  mention  of  a  yacht  nearly  always 
upsets  him  ;  and  we,  therefore,  had  to  listen  while  he  dis- 
puted vigorously  with  himself  for  some  minutes  ;  and  he 
finally  concluded  with  the  assertion  that  he  could  take  the 
*  *  Volunteer' '  and  sail  right  round  the  ' '  Defender' ' ;  he 
knew  the  old  one  was  better,  anyhow,  than  that  there  new 
brass  boat,  or  whatever  she  was  made  of.  On  suggesting 
that  he  might  find  some  little  difficulty  in  consummating 
such  an  undertaking,  he  replied,  "Well,  I've  got  that  con- 
fidence in  myself  ;  I  used  to  sail  small  boats  when  I  was  a 
boy,  and  I  ain't  forgot  how." 

He  concluded  his  remarks,  always  delivered  in  explo- 
sions as  though  challenging  you  to  deny  them,  with  a  dis- 
quisition on  jams.  He  believes  in  the  theory  that  all  kinds 
of  preserves  are  boiled  down  together,  and  that  different 

27s 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

labels  are  then  stuck  on  the  tins.  "  Look  at  that,  now," 
he  growled,  pointing  to  one  on  the  table.  "What  d'ye 
call  that  ?' '  I  showed  him  the  device  of  a  fig  on  the  wrap- 
per, with  the  name  beneath  it.  "  Lemme  taste  it,"  said 
he,  plunging  a  knife  deep  into  the  preserves.  * '  There, 
what'd  I  tell  you?  'Taint  fig  jam,  it's  currants;  they 
hain't  got  the  right  libel  onto  it,"  he  explained. 

When  dinner  was  over  we  repaired,  as  usual,  to  the 
after-cabin,  while  the  old  man  strode  heavily  back  into  the 
dining-room,  called  the  mate,  and  abruptly  demanded, 
* '  Have  you  got  that  spigotti  out  yet  ?' ' 

"What's  that,  sir?"   asked  the  mate. 

"  Spigotti,  spigotti  ;  like  macaroni.  Don't  you  know  by 
this  time  what  spigotti  is  ?' '  said  the  skipper,  very  angrily, 
for  he  knew  that  he  didn'  t  have  the  name  right  and  that  we 
could  hear  him. 

"No,   sir,    Cap' in   Scruggs,   sir,    I'm  d if  I   do," 

stammered  the  hapless  Goggins  ;  for  we  could  perceive 
the  captain  through  a  chink  in  the  door  bristled  up  like  a 
rufifled  bantam,  and  the  hideous,  grisly  old  mate,  his  eyes 
popping  out  like  a  pair  of  deviled  kidneys,  racking  his 
brain  for  a  translation  of  spigotti. 

But  the  particularly  scintillating  jewel  in  the  skipper's 
galaxy  of  remarkable  pronunciations  is  his  name  for  the 
inhabitants  of  Chile.  They  become  Chilaneans  ;  though, 
now  that  I  think  of  it,  I  have  heard  other  ship-masters  put 
themselves  to  the  trouble  of  so  pronouncing  it.  Where  do 
they  get  that  extra  syllable  from  ?  Now,  in  the  case  of 
Cubians,  it's  different.  They  all  say  Cuby,  so  why  not 
Cubians  ?     It' s  logical.     But  Chilaneans  is  unreasonable. 

Speaking  of  Cuba  reminds  me  of  what  a  Chesapeake 
Bay  fisherman  asked  me  once,  "Hain't  Mayceo  fit  with 
the  Cubians  before?"  This  was  just  before  Maceo  was 
killed. 

276 


BY   WAY   OF    CAPE   HORN 

Captain  Scruggs  seems  utterly  unable  to  avoid  contradic- 
tion, and,  being  possessed  of  very  uncouth  manners  (which 
he  nevertheless  knows  quite  well  how  to  correct),  it  may 
be  conceived  how  trying  an  ordeal  half  an  hour  at  the 
table  with  him  must  be.  "  Don't  talk  with  him,  then,"  is 
very  easy  to  say  ;  we  don't  talk  between  meals  to  him,  but 
at  table  it  is  almost  necessary  to  make  one  or  two  observa- 
tions in  thirty  minutes  ;  and  whenever  the  silence  becomes 
overwhelming  and  we  hazard  a  remark,  it  is  disheartening 
to  listen  continuously  to  "/don't  think  so."  Latitude, 
37°  3'  south  ;  longitude  83°  20'  west. 

August  5 

Just  another  such  day  as  yesterday,  with  the  sky  obscured 
by  sharply-cut,  stratus  clouds.  The  only  perceptible  dif- 
ference is  that  to-day  the  air  is  a  little  more  balmy  ;  the 
wind  and  sea  are  precisely  the  same,  and  our  experience  so 
far  has  been  that  the  Pacific  is  most  aptly  named.  Of 
course  we  ought  to  be  reaching  smooth  water  now,  though 
it  is  often  rough  in  the  southeast  Trades  ;  the  surprising 
part  is  that  we  had  such  a  quiet  sea  in  the  stormy  forties. 
The  air  has  been  wonderfully  soft  all  day,  the  thermometer 
indicating  58°  at  noon,  although  the  sky  was  completely 
overcast. 

Mas-a-Fuera  bore  east-northeast  true  at  mid-day,  dis- 
tant in  round  numbers  one  hundred  miles,  with  Juan  Fer- 
nandez two  hundred  miles  away  in  about  the  same  direction. 
The  appearance  of  this  latter  island  is  said  to  be  strikingly 
beautiful,  though  in  size  it  is  only  thirteen  miles  by  four. 
It  consists  of  a  series  of  steep,  rugged  hills,  formed  by 
huge  boulders  piled  one  upon  the  other,  the  loftiest  reach- 
ing an  altitude  of  three  thousand  feet.  Palms,  tree-ferns, 
and  a  thick  undergrowth  partially  cover  these  rocky  de- 
clivities, growing  in  very  shallow  earth,  which  slips  away 

277 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

when  one  attempts  to  scale  the  precipices,  and  it  is  said 
that  on  this  account  the  culminating  peak  has  never  yet 
been  ascended. 

Juan  Fernandez,  which  lies  in  the  approximate  corre- 
sponding latitude  of  the  Madeiras,  is  indissolubly  associated 
with  Robinson  Crusoe,  Defoe  having  based  his  tale  upon  the 
adventures  of  one  Alexander  Selkirk,  of  Fifeshire,  Scot- 
land, who  was  put  ashore  there  in  1704,  at  his  own  request, 
by  Captain  Straddling  of  the  *  *  Cinque  Porte' '  galley,  with 
whom,  as  master,  Selkirk  had  quarrelled.  It  is  highly  im- 
probable, however,  that  Juan  Fernandez  is  the  island  pic- 
tured by  Defoe,  as  his  descriptions  in  Crusoe  do  not  always 
tally  with  the  conformations  of  Fernandez.  Modern  writers 
incline  to  the  belief  that  Trinidad,  off  the  Venezuelan  coast, 
was  the  island  in  * '  Robinson  Crusoe. ' '  Selkirk  lived  on 
Juan  Fernandez  until  1709,  when  he  was  rescued  by  the  ship 
"  Duke"  from  what  seems  to  have  been  a  by  no  means  in- 
tolerable imprisonment.  Mas-a-Fuera,  which  means  * '  more 
to  sea,"  called  so  by  the  Spaniards,  though  far  smaller  than 
its  neighbor,  is  even  loftier  still,  one  peak  attaining  a  height 
of  four  thousand  feet. 

In  every  spot  where  men  do  congregate  there  will  nearly 
always  be  found  one  silent  individual,  from  whom  it  is 
apparently  impossible  to  extract  a  single  syllable.  We 
had  one  such  on  the  "Mandalore,"  an  English  seaman 
with  a  Board  of  Trade  certificate.  During  the  whole  voy- 
age of  eighteen  weeks  he  was  never  heard  to  utter  a  word 
unless  he  had  some  unavoidable  reason.  Aboard  the 
'  *  Higgins' '  there  is  a  man  who  can  give  him  cards  and 
spades  on  taciturnity,  for  he  hasn't  been  known  to  speak 
by  either  mate  since  the  eleventh  of  May.  This  contem- 
plative genius  is  Karl,  he  whom  Rarx  so  brutally  struck  in 
the  face  with  the  block  away  back  in  the  South  Atlantic. 
Even  then  no  word  passed  his  lips,  though  he  did  groan 

278 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

He  isn't  surly — it  is  just  his  way — and  the  mates  do  not 
mind  now  when  he  doesn't  answer,  as  he  is  manifestly  so 
willing.  For  torpid  stupidity  and  phlegmatic  stolidity  his 
equal  would  be  hard  to  find,  and  we  have  often  watched 
him  at  work  and  wondered,  "Can  it  really  talk?"  The 
most  unexpected  and  painful  surprise  cannot  draw  from 
him  the  slightest  exclamation.  For  instance,  a  fortnight 
ago,  one  afternoon  at  the  pumps,  a  big  sea  surged  over  the 
side,  but  most  of  the  men  saved  themselves  by  jumping  up 
on  the  fife-rail,  except  Karl  and  Briin.  Indeed,  the  latter 
had  saved  himself,  and  was  kneeling  on  the  rail  holding 
fast  to  the  mizzen-royal-braces  ;  Karl's  mind,  though,  was 
far  too  numb  to  grapple  with  such  an  emergency,  so  the 
water  carried  him  oE  his  feet,  wrenched  away  his  grip  on 
the  pump-handle,  and  was  sweeping  him  across  the  deck, 
when  he  grasped  one  of  Briin' s  feet  in  his  flight.  This 
broke  the  latter' s  hold  on  the  brace,  and  away  both  flew 
into  the  water-ways,  where  they  bobbed  around  for  a  while 
in  thirty-six  inches  of  icy  brine.  Briin  was  in  a  rage,  of 
course,  but  not  so  Karl.  His  wooden  face  arose  by  and  by 
from  the  roaring  scuppers,  placid  and  tranquil  ;  he  then  by 
degrees  found  his  legs,  waited  for  a  weather-roll,  shot  back 
to  the  pumps,  and  resumed  his  place,  totally  unmoved. 
All  this  time  he  was  as  dumb  as  a  giraffe. 

Again,  yesterday  afternoon,  he  was  doing  some  work  on 
the  starboard  main-brace-bumpkin,  when  he  slipped  and 
went  half  under  water  before  he  caught  the  bight  of  a  rope 
that  luckily  hung  over  the  side.  Even  this  didn't  trouble 
him  in  the  smallest  degree  ;  he  didn't  even  wink  his  cod- 
fish eyes,  but  seated  himself  again  upon  the  bumpkin  and 
proceeded  with  his  job. 

Toward  the  end  of  the  third  month  at  sea  most  people 
begin  to  suffer  somewhat  from  dyspepsia,  induced,  no 
doubt,  by  the  absence  of  fresh  meat  and  vegetables,  though 

279 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

the  best  tinned  varieties  of  the  latter  certainly  taste  as  good 
as  the  fresh.  In  the  old  days  people,  it  is  true,  did  not  have 
the  great  amount  of  such  edibles  to  choose  from  as  they  do 
now  in  going  to  sea,  but  they  had  plenty  of  young  pigs  and 
sheep  and  chickens,  which  atoned  in  measure  for  the  lack  of 
canned  vegetables.  Indeed,  the  deck  of  a  Yankee  ship 
fifty  years  ago  looked  like  the  conventional  barn-yard, 
with  its  pig-  and  sheep-stalls,  hennery,  and  not  infrequently 
an  enclosure  for  a  couple  of  cows.  Latitude,  34°  5'  south  ; 
longitude,  83°  15'  west. 

August  6 

Gradually,  since  daylight,  the  form  of  the  clouds  has 
been  changing  till  they  have  assumed  that  of  cumulus, 
and  as  the  wind  is  letting  go,  with  an  appearance  of  showers 
ahead,  we  seem  to  be  upon  the  brink  of  a  change  in  the 
weather.  For  seven  days  the  wind  has  been  at  west- north- 
west, with  never  a  shift  of  two  whole  points,  while  the  varia- 
tion of  the  aneroid  during  that  period  was  not  more  than 
fifteen-hundredths  of  an  inch.  We  are  practically  on  the 
thirtieth  parallel  at  present,  so  that  in  eleven  days  we  have 
made  thirty  degrees  of  latitude.  Steadily,  too,  the  tem- 
perature has  been  rising,  standing  at  59°  at  eight  this 
morning  for  both  air  and  water  ;  a  still  more  significant  in- 
dication of  our  northing,  however,  is  that  last  night  the 
fire  in  the  cabin  stove  was  allowed  to  die  out,  to-day  being 
the  first  time  in  thirty-eight  days  that  we  have  been  without 
artificial  heat ;  thus  for  almost  six  weeks  has  the  stove  been 
going  full  blast,  for  it  was  first  lighted  in  38°  south  in  the 
Atlantic. 

It  is  always  an  interesting  thing  to  note  the  different  atti- 
tude of  captains  toward  their  chief  mates  on  long-voyage 
ships.  Some  are  extremely  affable,  others  are  reserved 
and  haughty  to  an  absurd  degree.     Where  men  are  con- 

280 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE    HORN 

fined  together  in  so  small  a  space  as  a  ship's  deck  for 
months  at  a  stretch  I  think  that  a  captain  ought  to  be 
reasonably  unbending,  but  always  dignified,  in  his  manner 
toward  the  chief  officer,  though,  of  course,  much  depends 
upon  the  sort  of  man  the  latter  is.  Captain  Scruggs  is  by 
turns  civil  and  positively  wolfish  toward  Mr.  Goggins  ;  and 
one  of  the  most  curious  phases  of  the  old  man's  character 
is  that  he  invariably  crushes  the  mate  whenever  the  latter 
says  something  that  he  thinks  will  please  the  skipper. 
Night  before  last,  at  supper,  during  a  conversation  about 
British  Columbia,  the  mate  turned  to  the  captain  and  beam- 
ingly said,  '  *  I  remember  the  time,  sir,  thirty  years  ago, 
when  you  used  to  could  talk  Chinook  w^ith  the  best  of 
'em."  To  his  chagrin,  though,  the  old  man  growled, 
' '  Never  knew  six  words  of  Chinook  in  my  life' ' ;  while  as  a 
matter  of  fact  he  used  to  talk  it  well.  Mr.  Goggins  re- 
turned to  the  charge,  however,  and  again  essayed  some 
remarks,  during  which  he  ventured  to  hope  that  the  wind 
would  back  into  the  southward  and  let  us  make  some  west- 
ing, very  reasonably  supposing  that  here  was  a  sentiment 
that  any  skipper  would  endorse.  But,  though  the  captain 
has  been  in  a  white  heat  lately  at  our  easting,  he  observed 
that  he  "  didn't  care  a  chew  er  terbakker  where  the  wind 
went  to,"  which  so  angered  the  mate  that  he  answered 
quite  hotly,  "Well,  so  far  as  /go,  I'm  sure  /  don't  care 
'ow  long  we're  at  sea  ;  but  I  knoiv  you  do  and  so  do  the 
owners."  *'  I  say  I  don't  care  a  rap,  rap,  rap  !"  stormed 
the  skipper,  and  we  looked  for  a  row  ;  but  the  mate  slid  off 
the  bench  and  disappeared. 

Strange  man  ;  unfortunate  disposition.  He  must  con- 
tradict. He  feels  it  his  duty  to  differ  from  every  one  else, 
even  if  he  knows  that  he  is  wrong.  This  morning  I  re- 
marked, as  we  sat  down  to  breakfast,  *  *  I  see  the  ther- 
mometer's  59°  this  morning."    "58^°,  I  think,"  he  cor- 

281 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

rected.  Now,  in  the  first  place,  it  was  59°  ;  and  in  the 
second  place,  he  wouldn'  t  have  known  it  if  it  had  been  half 
a  degree  lower,  for  he  can't  read  a  book  without  powerful 
lenses,  much  less  the  rusty  scale  of  a  thermometer  a  foot 
above  his  head.  Latitude,  30°  44'  south  ;  longitude,  82° 
30'  west. 

August  7 

"  Unhook  that  double  main-sheet  !  Square  the  yards  !" 
Oh,  welcome,  joyous  words  !  Even  if  the  wind  is  not  more 
than  a  breath,  it  allows  us  now  to  lay  the  course  and  with 
a  little  to  spare. 

There  are  some  ultra-nautical  landsmen  who  will  vigor- 
ously object  to  the  first  word  in  this  day's  log,  and  will 
insist  that  I  ought  to  have  written  ' '  cast-off' '  instead  ;  but 
if  these  individuals  would  go  to  sea  they  would  learn  that 
there  are  many  expressions  heard  aboard  ship  which  no 
argument  could  persuade  them  to  use,  for  fear  of  not  being 
considered  an  fait  in  nautical  nomenclature.  We  have  all 
seen  the  horror  of  the  pale  youth  with  the  large  steam 
yacht  when  some  one  in  his  hearing  has  suggested  going 
"down-stairs"  instead  of  "below."  Yet  many  deep- 
water  sailors  say  "down-stairs."  And  one  of  Captain 
Scruggs' s  characteristic  orders  is,  "Let  the  fore-t' gallant- 
yard  run  down,  Mr.  Rarx,  and  tie  up  the  sail,"  instead  of 
"  Clew  up  the  fore-t' gant'-s'l,"  while  he  himself  ordered 
the  double  main-sheet  "unhooked." 

To  resume.  For  seven  or  eight  days  we  have  been 
jammed  hard  on  the  wind,  and  while  we  have  made  very 
excellent  northing,  we  have  fallen  away  to  the  eastward  so 
much  as  to  well-nigh  overbalance  our  difference  of  latitude. 
In  yesterday  afternoon's  watch,  however,  the  ship  began 
to  come  up,  and  all  last  night  we  steered  northwest,  our 
course,  making  fairly  good  way,  though  it  fell  calm  at  day- 

282 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

break,  but  breezed  a  bit  again,  and  the  yards  were  checked 
in  a  couple  of  points  more  at  lo  a.m.  According  to  Find- 
lay,  the  average  time  from  50°  south  in  the  Pacific  to  San 
Francisco  is  fifty-four  days,  and  as  we  are  somewhat  ahead 
of  the  average  since  leaving  that  parallel,  we  can  stand  a 
good  deal  of  light  weather  and  still  make  a  fair  passage. 
It  cannot  be  denied,  though,  that  from  the  equator  to  40° 
south  on  the  other  side  we  had  a  remarkable  streak  of  bad 
luck  ;  and  I  expect  that  the  "A.  G.  Ropes, ' '  which  sailed 
from  New  York  thirteen  days  ahead  of  us,  will  make  a 
faster  passage  than  we  will.  In  parenthesis  I  might  re- 
mark that  most  of  the  large  ship-owners  give  their  cap- 
tains ten  dollars  per  day  for  every  day  under  one  hundred 
and  twenty.  For  instance,  if  a  man  makes  the  passage  in 
one  hundred  and  ten  days,  he  is  entitled  to  one  hundred 
dollars. 

It  may  be  that  the  curious  would  like  to  know  how  we 
passed  those  dreary  weeks  off  Cape  Horn,  and  here  was 
our  scheme,  though,  in  truth,  our  habits  then  were  about 
the  same  as  they  are  now.  I  rose  at  seven,  breakfasted  at 
quarter  to  eight,  and  walked  the  poop  alone  till  nearly 
eleven.  On  days  that  were  very  rough,  it  was  a  continual 
source  of  pleasure  to  chock  myself  off  between  the  stern- 
bitts  and  speculate,  when  a  particular  wave  was  still  several 
hundred  yards  off,  whether  it  was  going  to  break  on  board 
or  whether  we  would  clear  it.  It  is  a  fascinating  spectacle, 
this,  and  an  hour  often  passed  like  five  minutes  as  I  gazed 
with  ever-increasing  awe  at  the  resistless  power  of  the  huge, 
crested  breakers. 

Then  down  to  our  room,  where  we  read  "Farthest 
North"  aloud  till  noon,  when  my  wife  made  her  first  ap- 
pearance. Dinner  then  occupied  us  till  nearly  one,  when 
we  went  on  deck  to  walk  for  half  an  hour,  if  not  too  rough. 
Down  again  to  write  up  our  journals,  plot  off  the  course  on 

283 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

our  own  chart,  and  note  down  in  the  government  book 
the  meteorological  observations  made  at  Greenwich  noon. 
This  brought  us  to  four  o'clock,  when  we  again  went  on 
deck  to  remain  till  dark,  and  then  a  book  claimed  us  until 
supper,  a  little  after  five  o'clock.  Deck  once  more  from 
six  till  seven,  in  spite  of  any  weather  ;  then  books  again 
until  nine,  when  we  went  up  for  a  breath  of  air  again  before 
turning  in. 

Exciting  ?  No,  truth  compels  me  to  admit  that  it  was 
not,  although  no  doubt  some  of  the  days  would  have  been 
lively  enough  for  almost  anybody.  Those  w^ho  are  sus- 
tained by  excitement  must  never  by  any  chance  allow 
themselves  to  be  persuaded  to  try  a  deep-water  voyage,  no 
matter  how  completely  they  may  have  convinced  them- 
selves of  their  fondness  for  the  sea.  A  true  and  abiding 
love  for  the  sea  is  a  very  rare  atttibute  in  any  man.  I 
mean  that  fondness  for  the  ocean  which  enables  him  to 
live  contentedly  and  happily  upon  it  for  half  a  year  at  a 
time,  and  to  accept  uncomplainingly  whatever  chance  may 
provide.  The  monotony  of  a  twenty  weeks'  voyage  to 
ninety-nine  per  cent,  of  civilized  humanity  would  be  nearly 
incalculable  ;  and  in  the  case  of  one  sent  to  sea  for  health's 
sake,  it  is  entirely  conceivable  that  the  depression  conse- 
quent upon  such  a  voyage  would,  in  some  degree,  counter- 
act the  beneficial  effects  of  sea-air.  It  is  owing  to  a  peculiar 
temperament  that  a  few  people  can  stay  at  sea  for  an  in- 
definite number  of  months  without  in  any  way  tiring  of 
the  life.  To  these  few  the  state  of  the  weather  and  the 
direction  of  the  wind  are  absolutely  immaterial.  A  calm 
of  a  fortnight  or  a  month  of  head- winds,  either  in  the 
Tropics  or  the  Southern  Ocean,  are  regarded  by  them 
merely  as  events  which  they  expected  to  encounter  when 
they  sailed. 

In  spite  of  everything  said  and  written  to  the  contrary,  I 

284 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

believe  that  in  every  sailor,  from  seaman  to  master,  his  love 
for  the  sea  is  never  extinguished.  Let  them  assert,  times 
innumerable,  that  they  hate  the  life,  and  yet  see  how  they 
all  return  to  it  after  a  little  while  ashore.  It  is  of  no  avail 
to  argue  that  because  a  man  is  bred  to  the  sea  he  is  inca- 
pacitated for  duties  ashore  ;  I  have  known  of  several  ship- 
masters who,  through  influence,  obtained  lucrative  posi- 
tions in  various  firms,  but  who  resigned  them,  unable  to 
further  withstand  the  magic  influence  which  the  deep  sea 
exerts  over  those  who  have  once  fallen  under  her  resistless 
enchantment.  Nor  does  the  case  of  the  common  sailor 
differ.  I  once  knew  a  respectable  foremast  hand  who  ob- 
tained the  position  of  driver  of  a  laundry- wagon  in  Boston, 
This  was  a  nice  job,  but  I  awaited  developments  ;  and, 
sure  enough,  in  three  or  four  months  he  signed  as  bosun  of 
a  Japan- bound  oil-ship.  Even  the  most  shiftless  of  sailors 
could  surely  use  a  pick  or  shovel  dirt  ashore,  yet  they 
prefer  the  less  profitable  and  inconceivably  more  arduous 
duties  of  the  life  before  the  mast,  simply  because  they 
cannot  overcome  the  wondrous  allurements  of  Old  Ocean. 
Latitude,  28°  52'  south  ;  longitude,  83°  12'  west. 

August  8 

We  have  almost  every  reason  to  believe  that  we  have 
taken  the  southeast  Trades.  I  say  almost  every  reason, 
for  the  only  cause  for  doubting  is  that  we  are  so  far  south 
yet,  and  the  wind,  after  all,  may  not  amount  to  anything. 
In  any  event,  we  are  all  astonished  at  such  an  outburst  of 
luck,  except  the  skipper,  who  testily  replies  to  interroga- 
tions, * '  This  may  go  into  the  Trades  ;  it  certainly  is  not 
them  jF<?/'."  At  4.30  yesterday  afternoon,  just  as  we  had 
composed  ourselves  for  the  hazy,  yellow  calm  that  lay  upon 
the  sea,  a  light  air  from  astern  overhauled  us,  and  back- 
ing into  the  southeast  in  a  few  minutes,  breezed  up  from 

285 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

that  desirable  quarter  in  a  most  refreshing  manner,  so  that 
ever  since  we  have  averaged  seven  knots.  This,  if  it  lasts, 
is  a  most  remarkable  stroke  of  fortune,  as  ships  often  lie 
idle  for  a  week  or  more  between  the  westerly  and  the  south- 
easterly winds  ;  and  to  run  from  one  into  the  other,  with 
only  an  hour's  calm,  is  as  unusual  as  it  is  welcome.  We 
are  inclined  to  believe  that,  after  all,  we  will  make  the  voy- 
age in  one  hundred  and  thirty  days, — that  is,  in  six  weeks 
more.  On  this  subject  the  old  man  is,  of  course,  as  dumb 
as  a  lobster,  and  resents  any  such  suggestions  by  obsti- 
nately staring  in  the  opposite  direction  ;  while  Mr.  Rarx,  a 
man  of  great  experience  in  the  North  Pacific,  which  is  now 
probably  the  only  bHe-noir  left  to  us,  even  goes  so  far  as  to 
say  that  five  additional  weeks  will  anchor  us  in  San  Fran- 
cisco Bay. 

We  have  now  left  behind  us  that  most  solitary  and  vast 
portion  of  the  South  Pacific  almost  entirely  devoid  of  the 
smallest  fragments  of  land,  and  we  are  entering  that  part 
thickly  spattered  with  rocks  and  islets  that  most  people 
never  heard  of,  not  to  mention  the  thousands  of  islands  to 
the  westward  that  form  the  great  clusters  of  the  Society, 
Friendly,  Samoan,  Gilbert,  Ellice,  Marquesas,  Caroline, 
New  Hebrides,  Ladrone,  and  Marshall  groups.  For  in- 
stance, in  our  neighborhood  at  present  are  the  islets  of  San 
Felix,  San  Ambrosio,  Podesta,  Sala-y-Gomez,  and  the 
Emily  and  Minnehaha  rocks  ;  doubtless  there  are  dozens  of 
others  besides,  too  insignificant  to  appear  on  a  chart  of  the 
world,  such  as  I  work  with.  These  few,  however,  will 
serve  to  show  how  thickly  sown  the  Pacific  is  with  insular 
obstructions  ;  and  it  is  for  this  reason  that  this  ocean,  bar 
that  part  south  of  30°  south,  has  never  seemed  to  me  as 
desolate  or  lonely  as  the  Atlantic,  north  or  south.  Behold 
how  fittingly  Nature  has  cleared  the  North  Adantic  of 
nearly  every  indication  of  land  and  has  left  an  abundance 

286 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

of  clear,  open  water,  through  which  rush  the  great  steamers 
which  connect  Europe  and  America,  safe  in  the  knowledge 
that  even  if  they  drifted  about  for  months  with  disabled 
machinery  there  would  be  practically  nothing  to  interrupt 
their  wanderings.  The  most  remarkable  proof  of  this  was 
the  case  of  the  large  schooner  "Fannie  E.  Woolston,'* 
timber-laden,  which  drifted  about  for  thirty  months,  cover- 
ing six  thousand  miles  in  that  time,  an  average  of  over 
three  knots  per  hour,  without  approaching  land.  This  was 
ascertained  by  means  of  the  reports  of  many  different  vessels 
which  passed  close  to  the  "  Woolston"  during  her  perigri- 
nations.  Indeed,  the  only  island  that  lies  at  all  near  the 
track  of  steamers  bound  from  the  more  northerly  European 
ports  to  those  north  of  Baltimore  is  the  terrible  Sable 
Island,  the  "Graveyard  of  the  Atlantic,"  in  44°  north, 
60°  west,  about  two  hundred  miles  east  of  Halifax.  More 
vessels  are  lost  here  than  at  any  other  spot  in  open  water, 
and  its  number  of  casualties  are  probably  only  exceeded  by 
such  shoals  as  the  Goodwin  Sands. 

Turn,  then,  to  the  North  Pacific,  and  it  will  be  seen  that, 
with  the  exception  of  the  higher  northerly  latitudes,  through 
which  lies  the  great  circle  track  between  San  Francisco  or 
Vancouver  and  Japan,  that  immense  body  of  water  is  liter- 
ally dusted  with  coral  reefs  and  islands  ;  though  it  is  neces- 
sary to  examine  a  large  chart  to  appreciate  this,  as  no 
geography  will  answer. 

There  are  recognized  among  men  several  great  classes 
or  divisions  of  bores,  such  as  those  who  magnify  their  own 
greatness,  those  who  can  remember  how  much  colder  the 
winters  used  to  be  in  their  boyhood,  or,  if  in  New  York, 
those  whose  memory  recalls  the  period  when  milch  cows 
lowed  where  the  City  Hall  now  stands,  and  swine  rooted  in 
the  dirt  upon  the  site  of  the  Post  OfTfice.  But  there  remains 
yet  a  genus  of  bores  so  infinitely  surpassing  those  men- 

287 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

tioned  that  they  may  be  said  to  form  an  entirely  different 
family.  Fortunately  for  mankind,  comparatively  few  per- 
sons are  victimized  by  them,  by  reason  of  their  profession  ; 
but  in  those  parts  where  they  do  congregate,  they  are  as 
deadly  as  Mark  Twain's  brain-fever  bird.  Allusion  is  made 
to  those  venerable  and  crusty  master-mariners  who  extem- 
porize by  the  hour  upon  that  grand  race  of  sailors  who  used 
to  man  the  wind-jammers  in  days  of  yore.  Start  them  once 
on  this  subject,  and  woe  to  the  anguished  wretch  snared  in 
their  toils.  One  would  think,  in  listening  to  them,  that  they 
were  talking  about  an  extinct  race  who  inhabited  the  seas 
about  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century,  and,  like  the 
apteryx  and  platypus,  had  been  suddenly  and  mysteriously 
exterminated  ;  and  when  one  ventures  to  suggest  that  surely 
there  must  be  some  resemblance  to  those  exalted  be-ings  in 
the  men  who  now  sail  before  the  mast,  these  aged  sea- 
hedgehogs  bristle  up  and  fly  in  a  passion  as  they  descant 
upon  the  puny  breed  who  now  defile  the  honorable  name 
of  sailor  with  their  pampered  notions  and  blubber-head 
stupidity.  These  persons  ought  to  be  confined  in  some 
retreat  for  the  rest  of  their  lives  ;  the  disease  is  incurable 
and  terribly  infectious,  for  every  sea-captain  over  fifty 
years  of  age  suffers  more  or  less  from  the  unhappy 
malady. 

It  is  true  that  the  steamer  has  cut  huge  swaths  in  the 
sailing-ship  trade,  but  there  are  still  a  vast  number  of 
square-riggers  left  which  pay  good  dividends.  It  seems  to 
be  the  prevalent  opinion  that  steam  has  spoiled  seamen  for 
sailing-ship  work,  but  in  reality  the  men  who  ship  for  long 
voyages  never  do  anything  else,  and  let  steamers  severely 
alone.  Many  good  men,  no  doubt,  begin  their  careers  as 
lamp-trimmers,  etc.,  in  steamers,  and  usually  remain  in 
them,  and  in  this  way  sailing  ships,  no  doubt,  lose  a  num- 
ber of  fine  men  ;  but  it  is  well  to  bear  in  mind  that  deep' 

288 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

water  and  steamship  foremast  hands  are  very  different 
beings  in  many  respects. 

As  noted  in  an  eadier  page,  some  people  are  crying  now 
that  as  soon  as  the  Central  American  canal  is  cut  through 
it  will  be  the  instantaneous  death-knell  of  the  long-voyage 
sailing  vessel,  but  those  who  really  understand  the  business 
of  transportation  by  water  do  not  agree  to  this  by  any 
means.  Here  are  the  words  of  Arthur  Sewall,  than  whom 
few,  if  any,  are  more  competent  to  speak  on  the  matter  : 
' '  As  long  as  the  wind  blows  and  water  flows  there  will  be 
sailing  ships  built  and  business  to  keep  them  busy.  There 
will  always  be  a  chance  for  them  to  compete  against  steam 
in  traffic  where  time  is  not  a  factor,  or  where  delay  is  actu- 
ally a  good  thing.  For  instance,  there  is  the  wheat  crop. 
In  July  or  August  it  begins  to  be  ready  for  delivery,  and 
in  a  short  time  the  whole  year's  supply  is  ready  for  ship- 
ment. But  the  consumption  of  a  crop  stretches  over  a 
whole  year.  Shipping  wheat  in  sailing  vessels  consumes 
several  months'  time,  which  would  otherwise  require  the 
storing  of  the  wheat.  Sailing  freights  are  actually  less  than 
steam  freights,  plus  storage  charges.  So,  you  see,  here  is 
business  which  sailing  ships  can  hold.  Then,  again,  take 
railroad  materials,  especially  rails,  which  are  manufactured 
faster  than  they  can  be  used,  and  where  the  delay  of  sail 
over  steam  is  better  than  storage.  Of  course,  as  in  any 
other  business,  it  is  a  case  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest,  and 
as  smaller  ships  are  relatively  more  expensive  than  large 
ones,  small  ships  cannot  make  money,  and  will  have  to 
make  way  for  large  ones. ' ' 

An  excellent  precedent  in  favor  of  the  continuance  of  sail- 
ing vessels  is  that  subject  in  connection  with  the  Suez  Canal. 
When  this  was  a  thing  accomplished  it  was  said  that  no 
more  square-riggers  would  go  out  around  Good  Hope  ; 
yet  consider  the  enormous  amount  of  sail  tonnage  that  is 
iQ  289 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

despatched  every  year  to  India,  China,  Australia,  and 
Japan,  for  it  is  computed  that  eight  hundred  saiHng  vessels 
double  Agulhas  every  year  in  both  directions,  and  as  but 
few  of  the  ships  in  the  Eastern  trade  have  a  carrying  ca- 
pacity of  less  than  thirty-five  hundred  tons,  the  amount  of 
merchandise  that  passes  the  southern  extremity  of  Africa 
per  annum  foots  up  the  imposing  total  of  at  least  seven 
million  tons. 

Mr.  Goggins  appeared  at  dinner  to-day  in  a  frock-coat  ! 
Can  one  conceive  the  effect  produced  upon  the  mind  by  the 
contiguity  of  a  frock-coat  and  a  red-fiannel  shirt.  Certainly 
not.  No  one  could  unless  he  had  seen  it.  Goggins  was 
monstrously  proud  of  it,  too,  in  spite  of  its  being  several 
sizes  too  small  for  him,  and  ostentatiously  got  up  during 
the  soup  and  officiated  at  the  drawing  of  a  pitcher  of  root- 
beer  from  the  ' '  kag' '  in  the  corner,  during  which  evolution 
he  suddenly  became  embarrassed  at  the  unwonted  attention 
centered  upon  himself,  and  in  some  way  managed  to  upset 
the  pitcher  all  over  the  floor  ;  and  when  he  sat  down  he 
was  in  such  a  state  of  excitement  that  his  nasal  whistlings 
and  obligatos  were  more  piercing  than  ever  before.  And 
just  think  of  this  creature's  name,  Leander  !  Oh,  heavens, 
it  is  too  much  !  Latitude,  26°  54'  south  ;  longitude,  84° 
50'  west. 

August  9 

Ninety  days  at  sea,  and  another  month  cannot  take  us 
in,  nor  do  we  desire  it,  in  spite  of  our  surroundings.  The 
wind  has  freshened  constantly,  and,  being  to  the  eastward 
of  southeast,  it  has  sent  us  along  at  an  eight-knot  clip, 
steady  and  true,  and  we  have  done  one  hundred  and  ninety 
miles  in  the  twenty-four  hours  by  the  log,  for  we  have  had 
no  sights  for  three  or  four  days.  The  temperature  is  almost 
perfect,  about  65^  day  and  night,  and  as  there  is  no  sun 

290 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

to  dazzle  one,  reading  on  deck  has  once  more  become  a 

joy- 
Yesterday  afternoon  MacFoy  returned  Nansen's  **  First 
Crossing  of  Greenland,"  which  he  borrowed  a  few  days 
ago  ;  he  is  an  intelligent  man  and  knows  all  of  Nordensk- 
jold's  works  pretty  thoroughly.  There  is  a  notion,  though, 
to  which  he  clings  with  characteristic  Scotch  tenacity  ;  in 
spite  of  everything,  he  insists  that  Nansen  started  upon  his 
last  great  voyage  in  a  steam  whaler  from  San  Francisco. 

But  if  this  fellow  is  well  read,  what  can  be  said  of  old 
Kelly,  in  the  mate's  watch.  We  pumped  together  yester- 
day afternoon  and  had  much  conversation,  during  which 
he  said  that  he  hailed  from  Charleston,  but  that  his  family 
had  moved  north  to  Troy  when  the  war  broke  out,  and 
that  his  parents  had  brought  him  up  strictly  and  decently. 
He  volunteered  no  reason  for  having  turned  sailor,  but 
branched  ofi  into  literature,  beginning  with  a  pertinent 
quotation  from  Burns  and  another  from  Moore.  These  led 
him  on,  and  he  expressed  great  admiration  for  ancient  his- 
tory, concluding  with  a  well-turned  eulogy  on  Gibbon's 
' '  Rome, ' '  with  illustrations  for  preferring  it  to  any  other 
account  of  that  great  empire.  At  first  it  seems  extraordi- 
nary to  find  so  intelligent  a  man  before  the  mast,  living  a 
beast's  life,  and  surrounded  by  men  with  whom  he  has  but 
little  in  common.  Yet  such  fellows  are  by  no  means  un- 
common at  sea,  for  one  often  happens  upon  a  man  in  a 
Cape  Horner's  forecastle  whom  Nature  did  not  intend 
should  be  there. 

How  different  is  old  Kelly's  conversation  from  that  of 
the  mate,  especially  at  dinner  and  supper,  when  he  shouts 
out  his  witless  jokes  !  To-day  he  burst  in  with  the  follow- 
ing silly  story,  and  it  was  totally  irrelevant  to  what  we  were 
talking  about  :  ' '  There  was  a  hold  feller  I  knoo  onct  that 
lived  in  the  country,  and  when  'e  saw  the  telegrapht  wires 

291 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

put  hup  past  'is  farm,  'e  'ung  a  pair  'o  boots  on  'em  to 
send  'em  to  'is  son."  At  the  conclusion  of  such  pleas- 
antries his  sense  of  humor  is  so  agitated  that  he  seems  upon 
the  brink  of  spasms,  and  his  temporal  arteries  swell  out  as 
big  as  lead-pencils,  while  he  chortles  and  wheezes  and  gasps 
like  an  old  tattered  bellows. 

What  quaint  expressions  sailors  have,  too  !  Mr.  Rarx 
was  talking  about  athletics  last  night,  and  incidentally- 
asked  who  was  now  the  greatest  '  *  hammer-heaver' '  ;  it 
must  be  remembered  that  objects  at  sea  are  never  throw^n, 
they  are  always  hove. 

As  we  approach  the  final  quarter  of  the  voyage  we  can- 
not help  wishing  that  we  were  going  to  land  at  Calcutta  as 
we  did  before.  Oh,  the  incomparable  delight,  the  un- 
bounded pleasure  of  those  two  months  in  India  which  fol- 
low^ed  the  termination  of  our  voyage  in  the  ' '  Mandalore' '  ! 
The  memories  of  those  nine  weeks  in  British  India  carry 
with  them  a  charm  perfectly  indescribable  ;  and  were  it 
given  us  to  visit  but  one  more  country  on  the  globe  during 
our  lifetime,  we  would  unhesitatingly  choose  another  stay 
in  the  land  of  the  Himalayas.  Latitude,  24°  28'  south  ; 
longitude,  87°  5'  west. 

August  10 

Moderate  southeasterly  breezes,  a  smooth  sea,  and  mag- 
nificent weather.  He  who  would  not  be  happy  here  now 
must  needs  be  hard  to  please.  At  midnight  we  cut  the 
circle  of  Capricorn,  and  have,  happily,  once  more  entered 
the  torrid  zone,  after  an  absence  of  fifty  days,  for  it  was  on 
June  20  that  we  passed  Capricorn  in  the  Atlantic.  Verily, 
it  doesn'  t  seem  as  though  almost  two  months  have  elapsed 
since  we  first  sighted  the  "Judas  Dowes"  that  Sunday  in 
the  latitude  of  Rio.  How  time  speeds  on  at  sea  !  A  week 
does  not  seem  longer  than  twenty-four  hours,  and  before 

292 


BY   WAY   OF    CAPE   HORN 

we  realize  it  they  will  be  making  ready  the  anchor.  Our 
progress  is  very  gratifying,  though  the  perversity  of  the 
skipper  will  not  allow  him  to  believe  or  even  to  suppose 
that  we  have  taken  the  Trades.  He  has  surprised  us  much 
in  the  last  few  days  by  going  down  on  the  main-deck  and 
assisting  in  the  repair  of  the  old  sails.  See  how  inconsist- 
ent he  is  !  He  considers  himself  so  infinitely  above  the 
sailors  that  mere  proximity  to  them  under  other  circum- 
stances, even  for  a  moment,  carries  infection  with  it  ;  yet 
now,  down  he  stalks  to  the  main-deck,  off  comes  his  coat, 
and  down  he  drops  flat,  his  short  fat  legs  sticking  wide  out 
before  him  like  a  brownie's,  as  he  turns  to  in  a  cluster  of 
the  defiling  sailors.  For  some  days  he  sewed  merrily  away 
on  top  of  the  deck-house,  which  was  a  different  affair  alto- 
gether, and  sail-making  is  a  very  agreeable  pastime.  But 
we  were  immeasurably  astonished  at  the  arrogant  Scruggs' s 
consorting  thus  with  the  foe. 

As  the  captain  and  I  were  pacing  the  poop  at  ten  o'  clock 
last  evening,  the  sky  at  the  time  being  cloudless  and  the 
moon  almost  full,  suddenly,  as  we  turned  to  go  aft,  we  saw, 
over  our  shoulders,  a  dazzling  glare  of  light  from  forward, 
like  a  very  bright  lightning-flash,  and,  turning  quickly, 
we  observed  a  ball  of  fire  shoot  by  at  right  angles  to 
our  course  and  disappear  behind  the  foretop-gallant-sail. 
"  What  was  that  ?"  said  I.  *'  Oh,  that  was  just  a  meteor 
or  whatever  you  call  it, ' '  answered  the  skipper  ;  ' '  you 
often  see  'em  hereabouts.  Last  voyage  one  bursted  near 
the  ship  at  night  at  the  dark  o'  the  moon  somewhere  about 
15°  south,  and  most  scared  all  hands  to  death."  Such 
exhibitions  are  met  with  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  even  in 
cold,  high  latitudes.  I  remember  the  case  of  the  large 
British  ship  ' '  Cawdor, ' '  Captain  Jardella,  during  one  of  her 
recent  voyages  from  Swansea  to  San  Francisco.  She  made 
a  very  long  passage  on  this  occasion  of  one  hundred  and 

293 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

eighty-four  days.  She  had  a  terrible  battering  in  the 
Southern  Ocean,  and  reported  on  arrival  that  off  Cape 
Horn  an  enormous  meteor  plunged  into  the  sea  with  a 
stunning  explosion,  so  close  as  to  flood  the  decks. 

We  learned  last  evening  of  a  horrid  accident  that  oc- 
curred on  this  ship  six  weeks  before  we  sailed  on  the  pres- 
ent voyage.  The  mate  spun  the  yarn  in  these  words  : 
' '  We  had  just  warped  into  the  docks  in  Brooklyn  to  dis- 
charge, when  a  gang  o'  stevedores  came  over  the  side  to 
rig  the  gear  for  unloadin'.  '  Where's  the  cargo  pendant  ?' 
says  the  boss  stevedore.  'There  it  is,'  says  I,  'and 
there's  a  gantline,  too,'  I  says,  pointin'  to  a  coil  o'  brand- 
noo  manila.  Well,  they  began  for  to  rig  the  falls,  while 
I  went  into  the  cabin  for  dinner.  I  seen  one  o'  the  fellers 
on  the  mainyard  as  I  went  in,  but  I  didn't  think  no  more 
about  it  for  maybe  ten  minutes,  when  I  heard  a  sickenin' 
crash,  and  out  I  jumped.  Did  you  ever  hear  a  man  fall 
from  aloft?  Hit's  awful,  sir.  When  I  got  out  on  deck 
there  was  a  lot  o'  stevedores  standin'  around  lookin'  at 
somethin'  on  the  main-'atch.  I  didn't  want  to  look  at 
what  I  knew  it  was,  but  I  had  to  ;  so  I  shoved  my  way 
through,  and  there  lay  the  big,  heavy  man  I'd  seen  on  the 
mainyard.  I  didn't  see  anythin'  wrong  :vith  him  first  off 
till  I  went  round  on  t'other  side,  and  there  was  his  head 
cracked  open  just  as  if  you'd  dropped  a  mushmellon  on 
the  ground,  and  the  hinsides  was  spattered  all  over  the 
'atch  cover.  Plenty  o'  these  here  stevedores  git  hurt,  and 
often  it's  the  fault  o'  rotten  gear,  and  then  there's  a  case 
ag'in'  the  ship.  But  I'm  too  hold  a  bird  to  git  took  in  like 
that,  and  I  always  gives  '  em  brand-noo  rope. ' ' 

It  is  strange  that  more  sailors  are  not  killed  by  falling 
from  aloft,  for  they  not  only  appear  to  be,  but  really  are, 
very  careless,  and  two  or  three  of  our  men  have  more  than 
once  just  saved  themselves  from  tremendous  falls.      Not 

294 


BY   WAY   OF    CAPE   HORN 

long  ago  that  handsome  four-masted  ship  "Puritan"  lost 
two  men  from  the  upper  foretop-sail-yard,  only  two  hun- 
dred miles  from  Sandy  Hook,  bound  out  to  Hiogo  ;  and 
it  is  a  serious  matter  to  start  an  eighteen-thousand-mile 
voyage  short  two  hands,  when  ships  are  allowed  to  go  to 
sea  in  these  days  with  twenty  seamen  instead  of  thirty. 
Latitude  22°  19'  south  ;  longitude,  89°  15'  west. 

August  ii 

Still  no  change  in  anything  but  the  thermometer,  the 
instrument  at  mid-day  showing  70°  for  the  first  time  in 
many  weeks.  How  superb,  how  glorious  this  weather 
surely  is  !  There  is  not  too  much  sun  to  render  sitting 
anywhere  on  deck  at  all  unpleasant,  yet  we  have  enough  to 
give  us  all  the  necessary  observations  ;  the  soft,  rich  south- 
east Trades  come  flowing  smoothly  over  the  quarter,  while 
the  ocean,  the  limitless  South  Pacific,  lies  motionless  to  the 
horizon,  save  for  the  brittle,  little  cat's-paws  that  spangle 
the  royal  blue  of  this  great  but  placid  ocean.  Oh,  the  en- 
joyment of  these  balmy  days  !  Oh,  the  unutterable  charm 
of  the  sea  when  for  days  together  the  ship  moves  serenely 
over  its  quiet  surface  with  nothing  to  interrupt  the  pro- 
found peace  to  be  obtained  only  in   the   solitude  of  the 

oceans  ! 

"Oh  !  the  sea,  the  sea,  the  open  sea, 
The  pure,  the  fresh,  the  ever  free. 
Without  a  mark,  without  a  bound. 
It  runneth  the  earth's  wide  regions  round." 

Although  everything  in  nature  is  so  somnolent,  not  so 
the  sailors  ;  all  day  long  both  watches  have  wrought  like 
bees  unbending  the  heavy,  new  sails  and  sending  aloft  the 
old  fine-weather  ones.  The  mending  was  finished  yester- 
day, and  the  old,  brownish-gray  canvas  looks  very  dull 
after  the  glare  of  the  new  duck  and  changes  the  whole  ap- 

295 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

pearance  of  the  ship.  This  is  another  point  of  usefulness 
in  the  donkey-engine,  for  steam  was  got  up  this  morning, 
and  the  different  sails  were  sent  whizzing  aloft  like  sacks  of 
corn  into  a  mill  in  a  tenth  of  the  time  that  would  have  been 
necessary  in  manual  labor.  Nor  be  it  supposed  that  the 
sails  of  a  two-thousand-ton  ship  are  feather  weights,  for  our 
main-sail  alone  would  tip  the  balance  at  eight  hundred 
pounds. 

Last  evening  was  the  first  occasion  for  at  least  two  months 
on  which  we  have  been  able  to  eat  our  5. 15  o'clock  supper 
without  lamplight  ;  and  it  was  a  very  grateful  change  to  see 
the  mellow  rays  of  the  setting  sun  streaming  in  at  the  open 
door,  instead  of  the  weak  flicker  of  a  very  bad  lantern. 
The  cheerful  air  of  the  saloon  was  the  cause  of  further  very 
great  volubility  on  the  part  of  the  mate,  and  he  told  the 
only  humorous  joke  (is  this  tautology  ?)  that  he  has  uttered 
on  the  passage.  He  said  that  his  wife  once  asked  him  why 
it  was  that  a  captain  couldn't  keep  tally  of  the  size  of  his 
anchor  so  that  he  wouldn't  have  to  weigh  it  every  time  he 
left  a  harbor.     This,  for  Goggins,  wasn't  bad. 

Some  days  ago  we  finished  "Farthest  North,"  and  so 
lucid  and  straightforward  are  his  writings  that  we  seem  to 
know  Fridjof  Nansen  personally.  Three  great  character- 
istics stand  forth  pre-eminently  in  this  book, — manliness, 
lack  of  affectation,  and  the  total  absence  of  the  "  I  am." 
Latitude,  20°  23'  south  ;  longitude,  91°  20'  west. 

August  12 

Somewhat  more  cloudy  to-day,  and,  since  the  morning 
watch,  the  Trades  have  been  a  good  deal  stronger,  though 
last  night  the  wind  dropped  to  force  3,  the  a\'erage  for  the 
week  having  been  force  4.  A  noticeable  fact  is  that  even 
though  the  weather  is  so  cool  for  this  latitude,  70°  at  noon, 
the  Cape  pigeons  are  still  with  us  ;  I   thought  that  they 

296 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

would  have  left  us  long  since,  for  on  the  other  voyage  we 
saw  our  last  pigeon  in  30°  south.  One  of  the  birds  has 
been  following  us  for  weeks  ;  we  can  always  pick  him  out 
by  the  fact  that  two  of  his  right-wing  quills  are  broken, 
which  renders  him  conspicuous  at  quite  a  distance. 

The  ship  was  pumped  out  with  the  donkey  last  night, 
after  the  sails  were  all  bent,  and  having  had  no  exercise  for 
some  days,  the  men  having  pumped  only  at  four  in  the 
morning  on  account  of  sail-making,  etc. ,  I  was  constrained 
to  take  hold  of  the  handle-bar  and  follow  the  wheel  around, 
which  afforded  even  more  exercise  than  the  ordinary  way. 
If  the  men  maintain  constantly  thirty  strokes  to  the  minute 
it  is  good  work  ;  whereas,  with  the  donkey  whirling  the 
pumps  around  at  more  than  sixty,  the  very  exertion  neces- 
sary to  keep  up  with  this  speed  is  more  than  considerable. 
It  is  attended,  too,  with  some  danger  of  bodily  harm  ;  for 
if  your  foot  should  slip  on  the  wet  deck  and  you  did  not 
instantly  let  go  the  handle-bar,  you  would  either  be  jerked 
over  the  wheel  and  slammed  down  on  the  other  side,  or  at 
the  next  revolution  the  bar  would  catch  you  under  the  chin 
and  knock  your  lower  jaw  into  bone-dust.  The  captain 
conjectured  later  on  that  he,  too,  needed  some  exercise,  for 
he  went  down  and  worked  away  with  ferocious  abandon  for 
perhaps  five  minutes,  standing  forth  in  the  bright  moon- 
light a  most  ridiculous  object.  For  his  short,  plump, 
little  body  was  taxed  to  the  very  utmost  to  keep  up  with 
the  machine,  and  when  his  coat-tails  whisked  wildly 
about  and  he  staggered  now  and  then  to  keep  his  bal- 
ance, and  his  arms  were  jerked  back  and  forth  like 
shuttles,  his  coat  up  between  his  ears,  he  looked  like  John 
Gilpin  in  a  cyclone.  But  funniest  of  all  was  his  face. 
Whenever  he  exerts  himself  he  always  glares  over  at  us  to 
ascertain  whether  we  are  laughing  at  him  or  not  ;  and  last 
night,  as  he  gazed  up  at  us  over  the  whizzing  bai ,  with 

297 


BY   WAY    OF   CAPE   HORN 

bursting  cheeks  and  popping  eyes,  we  thought  we  had 
never  seen  so  ludicrous  a  sight  ;  even  more  droll  than  the 
other  day  while  he  was  *  *  chinning' '  himself  on  the  weather 
mizzen-sheerpole,  when  he  peered  over  his  shoulder  at  us 
with  so  distorted  and  writhing  a  countenance  that  we 
thought  he  was  strangling.  The  skipper  has  a  clipping- 
machine,  with  which  he  has  almost  denuded  his  head  and 
face  of  their  shaggy  masses,  and  he  insists  that  my  own 
thick  growth  of  hair  and  beard  will  be  uncomfortable  in 
hot  weather,  w^hich  is  no  doubt  true  ;  but  when  he  offered 
to  ' '  run  the  machine  over  your  whiskers, "  as  he  expressed 
it,  I  thought  it  best  to  risk  them  as  they  are.  Fancy 
reaping  one's  beard  with  clippers  ! 

Mention  has  not  been  made  of  a  certain  dish  that  was 
placed  upon  the  supper-table  a  few  nights  after  the  last  pig 
had  been  killed.  In  one  of  the  compartments  of  the  rack 
was  a  plate  of  cold  salt  beef  ;  while  in  the  other  was  some- 
thing that  we  thought  was  mighty  good,  judging  from  the 
fragrance  that  rose  from  beneath  the  cover.  When  the  latter 
was  removed,  though,  there  lay  revealed  some  queer-look- 
ing, black  fragments  that  might  have  been  anything  rather 
than  meat.  It  turned  out  to  be  pig's  flesh  right  enough, 
but  no  one  could  guess  what  portions  of  his  anatomy  they 
were.  Some  of  the  objects  were  cylindrical  ;  these  were 
sections  of  the  creature's  tongue.  Others  were  very  irreg- 
ular and  unusual-looking  ;  these  were  the  ears  ;  while  a 
villanous  mass  that  stood  aloof  from  the  rest  was  recom- 
mended by  the  skipper  as  the  heart.  "  I  think  you'll  like 
that, ' '  he  observed,  ' '  though  some  do  say  there's  too  much 
muscle  in  it." 

The  only  really  unsuccessful  article  manufactured  by  the 
merry  little  Cantonite  is  the  pie-crust.  It  is  very  attractive 
and  tempting  to  contemplate,  which  makes  the  reality  harder 
to  bear,  for  it  is  the  only  wholly  indigestible  article  of  food 

298 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

I  ever  came  across  ;  you  can  even  feel  your  teeth  gliding 
smoothly  over  flakes  of  sticky  lard  scattered  freely  through 
it.  Nothing  but  hydrochloric  acid  could  have  the  least 
solvent  effect  upon  it,  Oh,  yes,  there  is  something  else, — 
the  captain's  digestive  organs.  It  will  be  recalled  that 
when  we  first  came  on  board  he  mentioned  that  he  was  a 
dyspeptic  ;  but  goodness,  gracious  me  !  it  is  a  revelation 
to  watch  him  denude  meat  or  fruit  pies  of  the  armor-plate 
which  invests  them.  He  has  another  favorite  dish,  too, 
that  he  usually  eats  for  breakfast  ;  it  looked  familiar  at 
first,  and  we  tried  some,  but  instantly  desisted.  It  was  like 
large  grains  of  sand  ;  the  captain  called  it  boiled  hominy. 
Latitude,  i8°  25'  south  ;  longitude,  93°  55'  west. 

August  13 

Fresh  Trades,  moderate  sea,  and  dazzling  skies  were 
ours  during  this  day,  and  we  made  more  than  two  degrees 
of  latitude  and  only  five  miles  less  than  three  of  longitude. 
It  is  glorious,  and  everything  has  assumed  a  tropical  as- 
pect :  the  sea,  which  undulates  in  swinging,  dark-blue 
heaves,  topped  with  sparkling  froth  ;  and  the  air,  which 
sleepily  fans  one  with  its  soft,  drowsy  breath.  Even  the 
men  have  begun  to  show  the  influence  of  warmer  climes, 
and  duck  and  dungaree  garments,  long  buried  in  the 
noisome  and  impenetrable  mysteries  of  a  sailor's  chest, 
have  suddenly  bloomed  forth  like  lilies  in  the  spring.  We 
have  kept  away  a  little  to  the  westward  of  northwest  so  as 
to  cross  the  line  in  about  116°. 

The  pumping  took  place  last  night  at  7.30  as  usual, 
and  I  took  a  hand  in  it,  alongside  of  that  villain,  Tim 
Powers  (he  of  the  wounded  arm),  while  opposite  to 
us  rose  and  fell  the  cadaverous  countenance  of  Paddy. 
Neither  of  the  mates  was  within  hearing  distance,  but 
no  one  spoke  till  Jimmie  Rumps,  the  little  bosun,  called 

299 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

out  "Let  her  rest  a  minute,"  and  then  Tim  grew  loqua- 
cious. 

''I'm  afeard  this  is  too  long  a  v'yage  for  the  lady,  sor  ; 
it's  a  sight  o'  sea." 

"Yes,"  I  answered,  "  but  it's  not  that  that  bothers  us. 
We  went  out  to  Calcutta  a  couple  of  years  ago  and  were 
at  sea  a  hundred  and  twenty-seven  days,  so  we  knew  it 
might  be  a  hundred  and  fifty  when  we  started." 

"Is  thot  so,  sor,"  said  Tim,  with  immense  energy  and 
interest, — "to  Calcutta?  A  grand  place.  If  yez  don't 
mind,  what  was  the  name  o'  the  ship  ?" 

"The  'Mandalore.'  " 

"Oh,"  with  great  satisfaction  and  relief,  "an  English 
ship.     I'll  bet  yez  had  a  different " 

"  Shake  her  up  again,  boys,"  came  from  the  main-hatch 
in  Jimmie's  thin  little  voice,  and  we  turned  to  in  silence  till 
the  mate's  growl,  "That'll  do  the  pumps,"  put  an  end  to 
the  job.  Then  I  asked  Paddy  how  he  was  enjoying  him- 
self. 

"  To  speak  the  truth,"  he  answered,  wearily,  "I'd  rather 
be  in  me  grave  than  where  I  am,  and  this  is  the  first  time  I 
ever  said  such  a  thing  aboard  ship. ' ' 

"Why,  what's  the  matter?"  I  asked  him.  "You're  al- 
ways skylarking  with  the  cook  and  steward. ' ' 

"Well,  what's  the  good  in  tryin'  to  make  a  row?"  he 
philosophically  demanded. 

"  Don't  you  get  enough  to  eat?" 

"  Ye-e-e-s,  but  it's  not  what  I've  heard  the  mate  tell  you 
it's  like.  It's  the  drivin'  we  mind.  But  even  that's  not  the 
worst  of  it ;  you  can' t  do  a  thing  to  please  the  mate  or  the 
old  man.  I  dunno  about  Mr.  Rarx  ;  you  know  I  ain't  in 
his  watch,  but  I  guess  he's  no  better  than  most  second 
mates,  and  I  guess  you  know  what  that  means.  Work, 
work,  work  till  you  spHt  yer  finger-ends  and  then  kicked 

300 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

around  and  thumped  for  a  farmer.  But  I'm  not  makin'  a 
row, ' '  he  added,  ' '  only  you  asked  me. ' ' 

Paddy,  it  must  be  said,  is  one  of  a  rare  species,  a  fair- 
minded  sailor,  which  I  discovered  some  time  ago  by  his 
taking  the  mate's  part  when  telling  me  of  some  trifling  in- 
cident that  happened  on  board. 

A  couple  of  hours  later,  it  being  the  second  mate's  watch, 
I  asked  him  to  tell  me  honestly  why  he  liked  American 
ships  better  than  others,  knowing  that  he  has  sailed  in 
English  vessels. 

'  *  Well,  the  principal  thing  is  the  pay, ' '  he  replied. 
"It's  a  good  deal  better  in  our  ships  than  in  foreigners  ; 
and  the  cabin  table's  generally  better,  too.  Now,  there's 
the  British  ship  '  Fulwood'  (a  fine  steel  ship  she  is),  I 
know  they  don' t  have  soft  bread  on  the  table  but  once  a 
week. ' '  It  seemed  to  me  that  this  would  be  quite  a  recom- 
mendation for  the  ''  Fulwood,"  for  we  have  yet  to  see  soft 
bread  aboard  ship  much  better  than  a  worn-out  sponge. 
But  as  for  the  wages,  he  is  certainly  right.  Take  the  wages 
out  of  Hamburg  as  an  example.  The  chief  officers  of  the 
largest  and  fastest  express  steamers  receive  an  amount 
equivalent  to  only  sixty  dollars  of  our  money  !  What  sort 
of  remuneration  is  that  for  a  man  of  ability,  in  many  cases 
a  university  graduate,  a  man  second  in  authority  aboard  a 
ten-thousand-ton  mail  steamer  rippling  through  the  most 
crowded  ocean  in  the  world  at  twenty-one  knots,  with  fif- 
teen hundred  souls  below-decks  ?  And  it  makes  one  posi- 
tively angry  to  think  of  a  human  being  like  Goggins,  a 
densely  ignorant  and  practically  worthless  creature,  a  per- 
son who  can't  work  a  traverse  and  get  the  same  answer 
twice,  receiving  the  same  amount  as  mate  of  a  wind- 
jammer !  Why,  our  steward,  a  Malay  and  a  man  of  low 
intellect,  has  a  good  deal  more  than  half  as  much  wages  as 
the  first  officer  of  the   "  Normannia"   or  "Augusta  Vic- 

301 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

toria"  !      It  is  positively   incredible.      Latitude,    i6°    14' 
south  ;  longitude,  96°  30'  west. 

August  14 

Another  day,  beautiful  beyond  expression.  We  never 
remember  one  in  all  our  sea  experience  that  was  as  fine. 
The  sun  poured  down  from  a  sky  without  a  shred  of  cloud, 
and  the  Trades,  still  as  fresh  as  ever,  came  singing  so 
sweetly  and  cheerfully  over  the  starboard  quarter,  that  you 
were  moved  to  lean  back  in  your  chair  and  think,  ' '  Who 
is  so  happy  as  I  ?" 

Even  if  the  weather  were  not  so  delightful,  our  fine  prog- 
ress would  cover  a  multitude  of  grievances,  for  we  have 
done  five  hundred  and  eighty-six  miles  in  three  days,  a 
continuous  average  of  eight  knots.  If  credible,  the  nights 
are  even  finer  than  the  days,  and  we  sat  late  on  deck  last 
evening  plunking  away  on  the  banjo,  with  everything 
steeped  in  the  white  light  of  the  moon  just  past  the  full. 
So  wonderfully  brilliant  were  her  beams  that  the  shadows 
of  the  weather  mizzen-rigging  cast  upon  the  immense  con- 
cave expanse  of  the  main-sail  stood  forth  as  from  an  arc- 
light.     The  serenity  of  such  a  night  is  almost  unearthly. 

The  first  step  in  the  rehabilitation  of  the  ship  for  port  has 
been  progressing  for  two  days, — the  tarring  down  of  the 
standing  rigging.  It  is  always  the  dirtiest  job  aboard  ship, 
and  the  men  are  plastered  from  crown  to  toe  with  the 
sticky  fluid.  Next  after  this  comes  the  painting,  then  the 
holy-stoning,  and  lastly  the  varnishing  of  what  little  bright 
work  there  is  on  the  poop. 

When  at  the  pumps  last  evening  I  learned  that  the  men 
had  been  deeply  impressed  with  my  having  assisted  the 
donkey  the  other  night.  Murphy  especially  seemed  to 
extract  much  amusement  from  the  fact,  and  when  I  told 
him   that  some  exercise  was  necessary  to  health,  he  said 

302 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

that  he  never  allowed  that  subject  to  bother  him,  adding, 
"  There's  one  thing  I'm  just  grand  at, — lyin'  in  me  bunk." 
His  appearance  substantiates  this  statement,  for  he  is  as 
round  and  rugged  as  he  was  three  months  ago  ;  I  truly 
believe  that  he  is  the  only  man  forward  who  doesn't  bear 
the  marks  of  either  Cape  Horn  or  a  belaying-pin.  On  the 
other  hand,  Louis  the  Gaul  is  the  saddest  and  most  de- 
jected-looking man  I  ever  saw.  He  has  at  all  times  that 
melancholy,  dispirited  look  that  one  sees  in  the  eyes  of  a 
captive  ourang-outang.  We  talked  together  last  night,  and 
he  informed  me  that  this  was  his  first  American  ship,  and, 
please  God,  it  would  be  his  last.  In  very  broken  English, 
and  in  the  deferential  tones  of  a  foreigner,  he  asked,  ' '  Sair, 
do  your  laws  allow  men  to  be  treated  as  ze  men  are  treated 
aboard  zees  sheep  ?' ' 

"  No,"  I  answered  ;  "  but  so  far  there  does  not  seem  to 
have  been  any  attempt  made  by  the  United  States  authori- 
ties to  enforce  the  laws  they  have  made. ' '  Jacquin  didn'  t 
know  enough  English  to  go  more  deeply  into  the  subject, 
and  the  talk  drifted  to  the  French  navy,  in  which  he  has 
served  sixteen  years  altogether  ;  and  when  I  told  him  that 
I  knew  the  "Jean  Bart"  very  well,  his  delight  was  child- 
like. Then  he  imparted  a  bit  of  rather  astonishing  news 
by  saying  that  a  man  who  has  served  for  twenty  years  in 
the  French  navy  (and  it  need  not  be  all  in  one  stretch)  is 
pensioned  by  the  government  at  three  francs  and  a  half  per 
day.  Besides  possessing  the  second  most  powerful  navy, 
France  has  some  rattling  fine  square-riggers,  such  as  the 
* '  La  France, ' '  the  largest  sailing  vessel  in  the  world  bar 
the  ''Potosi,"  the  "  Dunquerque,"  and  the  "Ouevilly," 
the  greatest  tank  sailing  ship  afloat,  carrying  one  million 
gallons  of  oil  in  bulk  between  Philadelphia  and  Rouen. 

Our  pigeons  have  left  us,  and  well  they  might,  consider- 
ing   the   latitude.      What   a    distance    they   followed    us  1 

303 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

From  30°  south  in  one  ocean  to  16°  south  In  the  other, 
and  from  the  forty-fifth  to  the  one  hundredth  meridian. 
Quite  a  stretch  of  salt-water  that.  Mother  Carey' s  chickens 
have  come  as  a  sort  of  compensation,  hovering  over  our 
wake  and  darting  down  between  the  waves  Hke  swallows 
whizzing  through  the  air  after  insects.  Latitude,  14°  5' 
south  ;  longitude,  99°  west. 

August  15 

Shall  it  be  written  that  this  day  is  the  finest  of  all  ?  It  is 
even  so,  and  I  pray  the  reader  to  bear  with  me,  and  to 
remember  that  if  he  were  in  my  place  he  would  no  doubt 
give  expression  to  the  same  thought.  If  the  entire  voyage, 
except  that  part  lying  in  the  Pacific  between  the  south- 
ern tropic  and  the  equator,  were  composed  of  gales  and 
snow-storms,  it  seems  as  though  these  winds  would  atone 
for  any  amount  of  previous  distress  and  inconvenience.  It 
seems  wonderful  that  the  atmosphere  can  possess  simul- 
taneously such  exhilaration  and  such  a  smooth,  luscious 
balminess.  Oh,  superb,  glorious  southeast  Trades,  thy 
equal  is  not  in  the  world  ! 

THE  TRADE-WIND'S  SONG. 

Oh,  I  am  the  wind  that  the  seamen  love, 

I  am  steady  and  strong  and  true  ; 
They  follow  my  track  by  the  clouds  above 

O'er  the  fathomless,  tropic  blue. 

For  close  by  the  shores  of  the  sunny  Azores 

Their  ships  I  await  to  convoy  ; 
When  into  their  sails  my  constant  breath  pours, 

They  hail  me  with  turbulent  joy. 

I  bring  them  a  rest  from  tiresome  toil, 

Of  trimming  the  sail  to  the  blast ; 
For  I  love  to  keep  gear  all  snug  in  the  coil, 

And  the  sheets  and  the  braces  all  fast. 
304 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

From  the  deck  to  the  truck  I  pour  all  my  force, 

In  spanker  and  jib  I  am  strong  ; 
For  I  make  every  course  to  pull  like  a  horse. 

And  worry  the  great  ship  along. 

As  I  fly  o'er  the  blue  I  sing  to  the  crew, 

Who  answer  me  back  with  a  hail ; 
I  whistle  a  note  as  I  slip  by  the  throat 

Of  the  buoyant  and  bellying  sail. 

I  laugh  when  the  wave  leaps  over  the  head, 
And  the  jibs  through  the  spray-bow  shine  ; 

For  an  acre  of  foam  is  broken  and  spread 
When  she  shoulders  and  tosses  the  brine. 

Through  daylight  and  dark  I  follow  the  bark, 

I  keep  like  a  hound  on  her  trail ; 
I'm  strongest  at  noon,  yet  under  the  moon 

I  stiffen  the  bunt  of  her  sail. 

The  wide  ocean  through  for  days  I  pursue. 

Till  slowly  my  forces  all  wane  ; 
Then  in  whispers  of  calm  I  bid  them  adieu, 

And  vanish  in  thunder  and  rain. 

Oh,  I  am  the  wind  that  the  seamen  love, 

I  am  steady  and  strong  and  true  ; 
They  follow  my  track  by  the  clouds  above 

O'er  the  fathomless,  tropic  blue. 

Thus  has  Thomas  Fleming  Day  delightfully  written  of  the 
flowing  Trades. 

The  men  are  busily  engaged  shearing  away  the  great 
mops  of  hair  that  protected  their  heads  in  cold  weather. 
Coleman  (a  man  with  a  baneful  eye  and  one  who  ought  to 
be  watched)  seems  to  be  the  most  accomplished  tonsorial 
artist  in  the  ship  ;  he  has  already  operated  on  half  a  dozen 
men,  and  all  hands  but  one  have  assumed  that  appearance 
of  cleanliness  usual  among  sailors  in  the  tropics.  The  ex- 
ception is  Tim,  who,  bar  Mr.  Goggins,  is  the  dirtiest  man 
on  board.     And  now  for  a  secret,  profound  and  extraordi- 

30s 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

nary  !  Let  the  peruser  of  these  pages  prepare  himself  for 
the  concussion  ;  let  him  brace  himself  for  the  impending 
blow  !  Mr.  Goggins  was  seen  to  go  forward  to  the  galley 
an  hour  ago  and  return  with  a  basin  of  water  !  Can  it  be 
possible  that  he  is  about  to  submit  his  face  and  hands  to 
the  purification  of  a  quart,  a  whole  quart  of  fresh  water  ? 
But  no  ;  this  could  not  be.  Let  us  banish  the  thought. 
He  would  perish  of  shock.  Yet  it  must  be  for  this  that  he 
fetched  the  water,  for  it  is  the  only  conceivable  use  to  which 
he  could  put  it,  so  we  live  in  hopes  of  a  change  at  supper. 
We  have  never  anywhere  come  in  contact  with  a  person  so 
irreclaimably  obnoxious,  and  we  can  only  wonder  why  the 
captain  allows  him  to  come  to  the  table  in  such  a  condition. 
If  a  man  wants  to  be  dirty,  it's  his  own  personal  aflair;  but 
when  he  becomes  objectionable  to  others,  steps  ought  to  be 
taken  to  remedy  the  evil. 

By  far  the  most  agreeable  persons  on  board  are  the 
steward  and  cook,  not  to  mention  David  MacFoy,  who  is 
so  much  more  pleasant  and  entertaining  than  the  rest  that 
he  forms  a  class  all  by  himself.  The  cook,  though,  is 
a  jolly  httle  man,  and  welcomed  us  with  much  homely 
attention  when  we  invaded  his  precinct  the  other  day  to 
learn  how  to  make  curry  properly.  To  start  with,  it  is 
hard  to  get  good  curry-powder  even  in  India,  and  that 
which  we  brought  back  with  us  from  Calcutta  in  glass  jars 
is  not  as  good  as  that  which  can  be  bought  in  San  Fran- 
cisco in  square  tins,  that  city  being  the  only  place  in  the 
United  States  where  this  particular  sort  can  be  obtained. 
But  besides  the  necessity  for  good  powder,  there  are  cer- 
tain proportions  of  chopped  onion,  flour,  butter,  etc.,  to 
be  added  in  its  preparation,  so  that  in  order  to  learn  how 
to  make  curry  properly  it  is  necessary  to  witness  the 
process  as  performed  by  an  Indian  or  a  Chinaman. 

A  rather  interesting  little  fact  to  us  to-day  is  that  this  is 

306 


BY   WAY   OF    CAPE    HORN 

the  first  occasion  on  which  three  figures  have  ever  been 
necessary  to  express  our  longitude.  Latitude,  12°  5' 
south  ;  longitude,  101°  40'  west. 

August  16 

Fear  not.  I  do  not  intend  to  say  how  much  more 
beautiful  to-day  is  than  yesterday,  though  I  should  like  to, 
and  it  is  hard  to  refrain  from  doing  so  in  such  weather  ; 
but  more  than  enough  has  been  said  on  this  subject.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  it  is  not  quite  so  fine  to-day,  for  the  wind 
is  dead  aft,  so  that  the  after-sails  are  the  only  ones  that  do 
much  good,  and  our  run  has  not  been  quite  up  to  the  usual 
standard. 

This  has  been  a  grand  cleaning  day  forward.  Every 
movable  object  was  taken  out  of  the  forward  house  and 
spread  on  the  forecastle-head  in  the  baking  sun,  and  a 
curious  sight  did  the  men's  old  clothes  and  bedding  present 
after  lying  mildewed  and  sodden  for  so  many  weeks.  They 
lay  in  a  wretched  heap,  the  outside  of  which  was  composed 
of  ancient,  grimy  bedticks,  frowsy,  ill-looking  quilts,  and 
disreputable,  mouldy  muffiers.  The  forecastle  itself  was 
then  swept  cleanly  out  and  thoroughly  washed  with  soap 
and  water. 

We  have  scores  of  snow-white  birds  with  us  now,  about 
the  size  of  common  gulls,  called  bosuns.  They  are  pretty 
creatures,  with  the  most  remarkable  tails  ;  for,  instead  of 
the  usual  fan-shaped  arrangement  of  feathers,  their  bodies 
seem  to  be  elongated  into  pointed  spines,  so  thin  and  sharp 
that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  see  the  extreme  end.  These 
birds  are  very  noisy  and  keep  up  a  harsh  croaking,  whence 
their  name,  as  a  bosun  is  supposed  to  live  in  a  continual 
state  of  exhortation.  On  coming  up  from  supper  last 
night  just  before  six,  we  saw  a  plump,  little  feathered 
creature  bearing  down  upon  us,  which  had  a  very  familiar 

307 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

appearance  ;  and  great  was  our  surprise  a  moment  later 
when  we  found  that  it  was  a  Cape  pigeon  !  Imagine  one 
within  six  hundred  miles  of  the  equator  !  He  must  have 
been  the  last  survivor  of  some  vessel  ahead  of  us,  and, 
having  abandoned  her,  concluded  to  stop  and  see  if  he 
couldn't  find  some  scraps  here.  He  looked  very  calm  sail- 
ing about  on  motionless  wing  among  the  flocks  of  bosuns 
and  Mother  Carey's  chickens  that  appear,  in  comparison,  to 
make  so  great  an  effort  at  flying.  This  morning,  though, 
we  found  that  this,  the  last  token  of  Cape  Horn,  had  van- 
ished. Mr.  Rarx,  however,  didn't  seem  much  surprised 
at  the  appearance  of  the  pigeon,  and  told  us  that  he  had 
seen  them  often  in  the  harbor  of  Callao  in  12°  south. 

In  a  maritime  paper  that  the  second  mate  showed  us  to- 
day there  was  rather  an  interesting  article  concerning  the 
naming  of  ships.  According  to  it,  French  merchant- vessels 
are  usually  called  after  provinces,  towns,  wines,  and  vic- 
tories, but  never  after  men,  except  the  greatest  men  of 
French  history.  British  ships  are  generally  named  after 
mythological  characters,  lakes,  bays,  glens,  and  cities  ; 
German  vessels  after  rivers,  ports,  poets,  states,  and  char- 
acters in  German  literature.  The  Italians  name  theirs  after 
characters  in  Italian  literature,  and  names  of  hope,  courage, 
enterprise,  and  religion.  Spanish  ships  are  almost  always 
called  after  cities  or  the  great  commanders  in  Spanish  his- 
tory. Norwegians  and  Swedes  take  the  names  of  localities 
dear  to  them  ;  while  American  ships  are  given  the  names 
of  their  owners,  relatives,  friends,  or  ''any  old  thing." 

The  same  paper  contained  a  short  dissertation  on  scurvy. 
I  wonder  how  many  people  there  are  who  know  that,  ac- 
cording to  the  latest  researches,  scurvy  is  not  a  disease 
produced  by  eating  salt  meat  ?  For  many  years  Professor 
Torup,  of  the  University  of  Christiania,  has  been  studying 
this  dreaded  malady,  scurvy,  in  all  its  forms,  and  about  five 

308 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

years  ago  he  proved  to  his  own  satisfaction  that  it  is  pro- 
duced by  ptomaine  poisoning  incident  to  putrefaction  in 
meats  which  had  not  been  properly  cured  or  preserved. 
Fridjof  Nansen  beheved  in  this  theory,  and  when  he  was 
fitting  out  the  "  Pram"  for  her  Arctic  voyage  he  took  the 
most  extraordinary  precautions  to  have  every  can  or  barrel 
of  preserved  meat  that  went  on  board  in  the  best  possible 
condition,  particularly  the  salt  meats.  The  sequel  to  this 
care  was  that  upon  his  return  every  man  on  board  was  in 
perfect  health,  and  had  been  during  the  three  years'  voy- 
age ;  this  has  been  considered  sufhcient  proof  that  it  is 
poison  in  the  meat,  and  not  the  salted  meat  itself,  which 
produces  that  most  ghastly  of  all  diseases.  Latitude,  io° 
8'  south  ;  longitude,  103°  56'  west. 

August  17 

Still  the  same  weather  conditions,  with  a  little  more  wind 
and,  strange  to  tell,  a  heavy  ground-swell  from  the  south- 
west. Imagine  how  hard  the  gale  must  have  been  to  drive 
the  swell  through  thirty  degrees  of  latitude,  as  it  is  not 
probable  that  a  wind  strong  enough  to  raise  such  a  sea 
would  prevail  north  of  40°  south.  Soon,  indeed,  now  we 
will  enter  upon  the  last  quarter  of  our  voyage,  and  that 
portion  of  the  Pacific  between  the  line  and  40°  north  is  at 
this  season  often  responsible  for  more  long  passages  than 
any  other  part  of  the  Cape  Horn  voyage.  Many  a  flyer 
has  rolled  booming  across  the  equator  on  a  record-breaking 
trip,  struck  the  Doldrums  north  of  the  line  like  running  into 
a  stone  wall,  and  added  fifty  days  more  to  the  passage  be- 
fore sighting  the  Farallones.  Just  a  year  ago  the  "  Shen- 
andoah," one  of  our  fastest  vessels,  was  forty-six  days  sail- 
ing up  to  'Frisco  from  the  equator. 

Last  night  in  the  first  watch  I  had  a  long  talk  with  the 
second  mate.      It  seems  that  he  and  Mr.  Goggins  have  had 

309 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

words  several  times  lately,  and  as  Mr.  Rarx  knows  what 
we  think  of  the  mate,  he  unburdened  his  mind  in  a  very- 
unusual  manner.  He  says  that  Goggins  would  make  a 
tip-top  mate  of  a  garbage- dumper,  but  that  he  isn't  fit  for 
a  geordie  brig,  much  less  a  clipper  ship,  or  what  passes  for 
a  clipper  in  these  days,  "  But  the  worst  of  it  is,  he's  no 
seaman  ;  and  when  my  watch  on  deck  comes  ain't  there  a 

h of  a  fine  mess,  and  I've  got  to  do  it  all  over  again. 

And  look  at  his  men,  the  state  he's  got  'em  into  ;  there's 
not  a  man-jack  o'  the  whole  lot  that'll  turn  a  finger  for  him, 
with  his  shoutin'  and  hollerin'  and  swearin' .     I  wonder  the 

captain  shipped  such  a old  cripple,  for  he  knew 

him  before.  I'm  gettin'  bloody  sick  o'  the  voyage.  What's 
the  matter  with  the  mate  is  that  he  came  in  through  the 
cabin- windows  instead  o'  the  hawse-pipes." 

All  this  and  much  more  did  Mr.  Rarx  pour  forth,  work- 
ing himself  into  quite  a  rage  as  he  went  along,  and  embel- 
lishing his  discourse  with  regular  handspike  oaths. 

In  the  American  merchant  service  a  mate  always  rises  to 
that  position  through  the  various  grades  from  ordinary 
seaman  up  ;  but  on  British  ships  boys  (frequently  gentle- 
men's sons)  sign  for  three  years  as  apprentices,  live  aft,  and 
are  taught  navigation  and  seamanship  perfectly  and  practi- 
cally by  captains  who  are  often  privileged  to  write  R.  N.  R. 
after  their  names,  paying,  I  think,  about  one  hundred 
guineas  for  this  instruction.  When  this  course  is  over  they 
are  fit  for  second  mate,  and  in  another  two  years  pass  for 
mate  and  then  master.  How  different  in  America,  where, 
the  law  requires  no  examination  for  a  man  before  he  goes  in 
command  of  a  sailing  vessel  !  How  Mr.  Goggins  could  rise 
to  be  mate  from  a  cabin-boy  without  passing  through  the, 
forecastle  is  quite  marvellous,  as  he  has  always  sailed  in  . 
Yankee  ships.  He  is  a  very  obscure  individual,  though,  and 
no  doubt  landed  in  the  cabin  in  some  inscrutable  manner. 

310 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

Mr.  Rarx,  on  the  other  hand,  would  make  a  good  mate 
of  a  large  yacht  were  it  not  for  his  temper,  which  is  very 
violent,  and  he  has  a  way  of  harboring  up  revenge  for  petty 
trifles.  We  have  seen  more  bad  treatment  of  the  men  at 
the  hands  of  Goggins  ;  but  my  belief  is  that  the  second 
mate  does  considerable  hammering  on  his  own  account  the 
other  side  of  the  forecastle-house.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that 
so  many  bright  men  stick  at  second  mate  all  their  lives, 
never  rising  any  higher,  simply  because  they  have  never 
learned  the  use  of  a  sextant,  or  how  to  copy  figures  from 
an  epitome,  for  that's  all  that  navigation  amounts  to  as 
carried  on  at  sea.  This  is  the  great  dividing  line  between 
first  and  second  mate,  which  a  man  like  Rarx  could  over- 
come in  a  few  weeks  of  application.  When  a  second  mate 
has  passed  his  thirty-fifth  year  his  pristine  ardor  and  zeal 
begin  to  wane,  for  by  that  time  his  aspirations  for  improve- 
ment are  not  so  keen  as  they  were  ;  and  if  he  is  not  a  mate 
shortly  afterward,  he  never  will  be.  Similarly,  when  a 
mate  has  passed  that  age  and  never  has  had  a  command, 
he  settles  down  in  the  capacity  of  chief  officer,  and  by  the 
time  he  is  forty  he  perforins  his  duties  thereafter  with  no 
more  ambition  than  the  ox  that  hauls  the  plough.  Many 
ship-masters  refuse  to  take  either  a  mate  or  a  second  mate 
who  is  more  than  thirty-five  years  old.  Reference  is  made 
to  sailing  craft  only,  as  men  in  the  transatlantic  mail  service 
not  infrequently  reach  fifty  years  before  succeeding  to  one 
of  the  greyhounds.  In  the  early  days  of  Yankee  clippers 
scores  of  men  went  out  as  master  at  twenty-one,  and  ca- 
pable ones  at  that,  as  the  records  show. 

Whenever  there  is  a  pause  in  the  conversation  at  meals 
now.  Captain  Scruggs  always  fills  in  with  some  remarks 
about  Nansen  (or  Naysen,  as  he  always  calls  him)  and  Arctic 
expeditions.  It  is  remarkable  with  what  regularity  he  does 
this,  and  the  mate  as  regularly  asks  in  a  grieved  tone,  ad- 

311 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

dressing  no  one  in  particular,  ' '  And  will  yer  tell  me  wot 
good  hit's  a-goin'  to  do  when  they  do  find  the  pole?" 
Then  the  skipper  indignantly  asks  him  if  he  supposes  that 
an  expedition  is  idle  all  the  time  in  the  ice  ;  to  which  the 
mate  replies,  *'Well,  I  know  there's  nothin'  to  be  found 
out  about  the  land  up  there,  cause  there  hain't  none." 
And  then  they  go  at  it  like  a  pair  of  quarrelsome  cats,  till 
suddenly  the  old  man  fetches  the  table  a  whack  and  cries 
out,  "Very  well,  sir;  you're  not  here  to  argue;  that'll 
do,  sir,"  in  his  fiercest  tones.  At  such  times  he  looks  like 
the  ogre  of  childhood.  These  set-tos  are  extremely  amusing, 
though,  for  neither  knows  anything  about  the  subject,  and 
the  air  throbs  with  "magnetic  poles,"  "Arctic  circles," 
and  ' '  phemomemoms. ' '  By  the  way,  it  is  interesting  to 
know  that  England  held  the  record  for  the  highest  latitude 
for  two  hundred  and  seventy-five  years,  or  since  Hudson's 
voyage  in  1607  to  1882,  when  the  record  passed  to  the 
United  States,  to  be  wrested  from  her  thirteen  or  fourteen 
years  later  by  the  Norwegians.  Let  us  hope  that  Feary, 
whom  Sir  Clements  Markham  calls  ' '  the  greatest  living  ice- 
traveller,"  will  regain  what  we  have  lost,  and  this  time 
succeed  in  attaining  that  geographical  point,  the  quest  of 
which  has  resulted  in  the  loss  of  such  splendid  men  as 
Franklin  and  de  Long. 

Almost  all  of  the  painting  aloft  has  been  finished  except 
the  lower  masts.  The  topmast  and  lower  mast-heads  all 
glitter  in  the  glory  of  a  coat  of  dark  reddish-brown,  and  the 
rigging  fairly  scintillates  in  the  sun  in  its  dress  of  glossy 
tar.  Mr.  Goggins  says  that  he  well  remembers  the  first 
wire-rigged  sailing  vessel  seen  in  the  United  States.  She 
was  a  full-rigged  London  brig,  and  when  she  arrived  in 
New  York  she  looked  so  neat  and  trim  aloft  that  even  the 
old  shell-backs,  who  doubted  the  efficacy  of  wire,  were 
obliged  to  admit  that  in  appearance,  anyhow,  she  w^as  away 

312 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE    HORN 

ahead  of  the  old  style.  ' '  But  you  wait  till  she  strikes  a 
gale  o'  wind,"  said  these  Solons,  "and  then  you'll  see." 
And  they  didn't  have  long  to  wait,  for  on  her  return  voyage 
to  England  she  was  totally  dismasted  three  hundred  miles 
west  of  Cape  Clear.  Latitude,  8°  19'  south  ;  longitude, 
105°  40'  west. 

August  18 

A  still  fresher  breeze  to-day,  but  it  is  dead  aft.  But  we 
are  moving  so  steadily  in  the  same  direction,  northwest, 
that  we  slip  through  the  water  without  appreciating  how 
fast  we  are  going  ;  and  as  each  noon  puts  us  two  degrees 
farther  north,  we  ought  to  cross  the  line  next  Saturday. 
Gradually,  too,  we  have  been  gliding  into  warmer  weather, 
and  last  night  we  experienced,  for  the  first  time  in  the  Pa- 
cific, the  tremendous  heat  of  the  equatorial  regions.  There 
is  something  inexpressibly  depressing  to  many  people  after 
a  few  days'  sojourn  in  the  tropics  ;  something  that  seems 
to  drain  the  vitality.  Personally  I  have  never  experienced 
this  feeling,  and  exercise  should  never  be  omitted  in  hot 
weather  by  robust  persons,  although  it  should  not  be  severe, 
and  ought  never  be  taken  when  the  sun  is  more  than  ten 
degrees  above  the  horizon. 

This  morning  as  we  were  hanging  over  the  side  in  the 
shade,  watching  the  copper  slipping  smoothly  through  the 
water,  while  a  perfect  cataract  of  cool  wind  poured  over  us 
out  of  the  lee  side  of  the  cross-jack,  we  saw  a  disk  of  vivid 
green  resting  upon  the  surface  of  the  clear,  blue  depths. 
We  thought  it  was  a  cluster  of  sea-grass  till  the  captain 
said,  "  Hello,  there's  our  first  turtle."  So  it  proved  to  be, 
and  as  the  ship  passed  within  a  few  feet  of  him  we  had  an 
excellent  view  of  his  broad,  corrugated  back,  fully  three 
feet  across  ;  he  was  reposing  in  peaceful  slumber  as  wc  slid 
past,  with  head  retracted,  but  feet  and  tail  extended  like  a 

313 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

starfish,  and  he  looked  immeasurably  comfortable,  resting 
so  placidly  on  the  water,  indolently  rising  and  falling  in  the 
quiet  sea  ;  and  we  envied  him,  lying  there  in  his  clear,  cool 
element.     Latitude,  6°  38'  south  ;  longitude,  107°  44'  west. 

August  19 

One  hundred  days  at  sea,  and  we  celebrated  the  circum- 
stance in  real  old-fashioned,  long-approved  Yankee  style. 
Last  evening,  immediately  after  supper,  we  went  up  on  the 
cabin-house  and  sat  down  to  enjoy  the  sunset.  All  at  once 
we  heard  angry  voices  forward,  and  then  Louis,  the  French- 
man, shot  head  first  out  of  the  lee  door  of  the  carpenter- 
shop,  followed  by  the  massive  body  of  Chips  himself,  who 
held  in  his  hand  a  bludgeon.  They  were  both  in  a  passion. 
Louis  dropped  his  hat  as  he  flew  through  the  doorway,  and 
as  he  stooped  to  pick  it  up,  smack  !  came  the  truncheon 
upon  his  flank.  Then  Louis  straightened  up,  shot  out  his 
fist,  and  smote  Chips  painfully  on  the  chin  ;  the  latter 
returned  the  blow,  and  in  a  second  they  were  at  it  tooth 
and  nail.  Now,  Louis  is  a  very  active,  powerful  man,  and 
in  a  long  spell  he  would,  no  doubt,  wear  the  other  out,  but 
in  close  quarters  he  was  no  match  for  the  carpenter's  weight ; 
for  a  few  seconds  Louis  prevailed,  but  Chips  recovered,  and, 
being  a  foot  taller  than  the  Gaul,  he  seized  him  by  the 
throat  and  backed  him  over  towards  the  rail,  against  which 
he  caused  Louis's  head  to  come  into  such  frequent  and  vio- 
lent contact  that  we  could  hear  the  tattoo  where  we  sat. 
Then  Louis  began  his  national,  low  habit  of  kicking,  but 
was  unsuccessful  in  his  contemptible  trick,  and  they  were 
still  in  the  throes  of  battle  when  the  mate  appeared  and 
cautiously  hauled  them  apart.  The  shirts  of  both  were  in 
shreds  and  the  Frenchman  was  in  a  fearful  rage.  By  and 
by  Chips  came  aft  to  supper  ;  he  bore  no  facial  marks  of  the 
encounter  save  that  he  was  very  pale. 

314 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE    HORN 

At  seven  o'clock  I  went  up  to  one  of  the  men,  Charlie, 
and  asked  him  what  the  row  was  about.  He  said  that,  as 
far  as  he  knew,  Louis  went  into  the  carpenter-shop  to  get 
some  kerosene  to  cleanse  the  paint  from  his  hands,  and, 
having  no  business  in  there  without  permission,  Chips  had 
thrown  him  out.  The  carpenter,  by  the  way,  hasn'  t  been 
fair  to  the  men  lately  with  their  water.  One  day  off  Cape 
Horn,  when  he  went  into  the  forecastle  with  the  men's  allow- 
ance, one  of  them  said  to  him,  thereby  exhibiting  an  unusu- 
ally good  spirit,  "Say,  Chips,  there's  no  good  o'  givin'  us  all 
that  water  in  cold  weather,  we  can' t  drink  it. ' '  Then  when 
the  hot  weather  came  and  the  men  grew  thirsty.  Chips  re- 
fused to  give  them  more  than  they  asked  for  of!  the  Horn, 
though  each  man  is  entitled  here  to  four  quarts  per  day. 

Well,  then,  we  continued  to  sit  where  we  were  till  after 
dark,  discussing  the  event  ;  presently  eight  bells  went, 
MacFoy  came  aft  with,  ' '  The  watch  is  aft,  sir, ' '  to  which 
the  mate  replied  with  the  usual  growl,  "All  right  ;  relieve 
the  wheel  and  lookout,"  and  the  starboard  watch  came  on 
deck.  At  about  8. 15,  in  the  midst  of  that  deep,  wonderful 
silence  that  pervades  a  sailing  ship  at  night,  we  were  star- 
tled by  loud  voices  up  near  the  main-mast,  just  where  we 
couldn't  tell,  as  it  was  pitch  dark  ;  immediately  afterward, 
however,  we  recognized  the  voices  of  Mr.  Rarx  and  Louis, 
which  quickly  rose  to  shouting.  The  first  sentence  that 
we  caught  was  from  the  second  mate,  the  words  coming  in 
jerks,  as  though  he  had  a  man  by  the  neck  and  was  shaking 
him  :   "  So  .   .   .   you  were  in  there  .   .   .   tryin'  to  steal  oil 

,   .   .   eh?     You — French ."     To 

which  Louis  answered  in  a  loud  voice,  "  I  deed  7iof,  sair." 
Then  came  another  broadside  from  Rarx,  and  again,  "  Et 
ees  7iot  so,  sair. ' ' 

At  this  point  several  voices  broke  in,  and  the  old  man 
then  ran  down  the  weather  poop-ladder  to  see  what  was 

315 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

the  matter.  Suddenly  a  death-like  silence  reigned  for  a 
few  moments  ;  then  came  a  sound  of  scuffling,  and  all  at 
once  Rarx  cried  out,  ''  God  !     He's  stuck  me,  cap'n  !" 

"What's  that?"  yelled  the  skipper. 

"The  damned  French  hound's  put  a  knife  into  me,  sir  !" 

Paralysis  instantly  fell  upon  all  hands.  The  tension  was 
fearful,  but  was  relieved  somewhat  by  the  steward's  open- 
ing the  port  cabin  door,  allowing  a  broad  path  of  light  to 
stream  forth  into  the  darkness,  which  had  hitherto  rendered 
the  affair  mysterious  and  horrible.  It  fell  upon  a  group 
of  startled  men  by  the  main-mast,  with  the  skipper  in  the 
centre  supporting  the  second  mate,  while  the  latter,  press- 
ing his  hands  above  his  left  hip,  shuffled  painfully  aft.  He 
was  led  into  the  cabin,  where  he  sat  down  upon  the  coal- 
box,  and  I  pulled  up  his  shirt  and  exposed  the  wound.  It 
was  a  wide  gash  in  his  side,  a  little  to  the  front  of  and  just 
above  the  pelvis.  The  blow  had  evidently  been  aimed  at 
the  groin,  but  in  the  darkness  Louis  had  slightly  missed. 
Rarx's  clothes  were  somewhat  blood-soaked,  but  the  flow 
had  ceased,  showing  that  probably  none  of  the  large  ar- 
teries had  been  punctured.  Still,  there  was  more  than  a 
probability  that  he  had  been  dangerously,  nay,  fatally,  hurt, 
and  even  at  that  moment  might  be  bleeding  to  death  in- 
ternally, and  we  could  not  tell  whether  or  no  any  of  the 
vital  organs  had  been  touched.  The  skipper  ran  at  once 
for  listerine,  and  together  we  contrived  to  bind  up  the 
wound  and  put  the  man  to  bed.  Then  the  old  man 
stepped  out  on  the  main-deck  and  shouted, — 

"Send  that  Frenchman  aft,  Mr.  Goggins,  and  put  the 
irons  on  him." 

The  mate  went  gingerly  up  to  Louis,  who,  in  the  midst 
of  a  knot  of  men,  was  raving  like  a  maniac,  and,  seizing 
him  geijtly  by  the  arm,  led  him  aft.  Oh,  how  that  man 
raged  and  blasphemed  !     He  was  like  an  angry  bull,  and 

316 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE    HORN 

his  loud  voice  rang  out  far  over  the  peaceful  ocean  and 
echoed  and  reverberated  high  up  overhead  in  the  hollows 
of  the  upper  sails. 

' '  Did  you  hear  what  '  ee  call  me,  sair  ?' '  in  shrill  tones. 
**I,  who  have  bose  fazair  and  mozair.  I  wee  I  not  stand 
zat,  sair.  I  die  fairst  ;  you  can  keel  me,  sair.  And  I,  I 
stuck  'eem  ;  I  would  cut  'eem  again,  sair,  or  any  one  else, 
that  call  me  zat  name.  I  am  a  man,  sair."  This  last 
in  a  perfect  shriek. 

Never  a  word  said  the  old  man.  Then  Louis  turned  on 
him,  and,  insolently  sneering,  his  head  thrown  back  scorn- 
fully and  one  foot  advanced,  he  cried, — 

"  And  you,  Capitaine  Scruggs  !  What  are  you  ?  I  have 
been  to  sea  twenty  year  and  nevair  saw  a  capitaine  like 
you  before.  You  starve  us  !  you  starve  us  !  Why  do  you 
starve  us  ?  When  we  fairst  left  New  York  we  '  ad  plentee 
to  eat,  zee  food  was  waste,  and  now  for  seex  wicks  we 
have  had  nossing  at  all.  Bah  !  Peef  !  Voii,  a  man  like 
you,  a  capitaine  !" 

At  this  juncture  the  skipper  said  abruptly,  but  without 
the  least  show  of  anger,  for  which  great  credit  is  due  him, — 

*'  Where's  the  knife  you  cut  the  second  mate  with  ?" 

' '  Where  zee  knife,  eh  ?  Here  zee  knife.  Now  you  see 
it,  now  you  don't.  Ha,  ha  !"  And  he  jerked  it  over  the 
side  into  the  sea. 

All  this  time  the  mate  was  fussing  with  the  irons,  trying 
to  find  a  pair  that  would  encircle  his  great  wrists  ;  but  at 
length  a  pair  was  found,  locked  on  his  arms,  and  he  was 
led  aft  to  the  wheel-house,  several  other  pairs  of  irons  in 
the  mate's  hand  clanking  mournfully  as  he  walked.  Into 
the  after-division  where  the  tiller  works  Louis  was  hustled, 
and  his  hands  were  then  fastened  with  a  rope  to  a  ring- 
bolt in  a  carlin  overhead,  so  that  he  had  to  stand  upright 
all  night. 

3i7 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

And  what  was  my  wife  doing  all  this  time?  When 
Rarx  had  cried  that  he  had  been  stabbed  she  had  fled  to 
her  room,  locking  herself  in,  and  sat  shivering  until  curi- 
osity compelled  her  to  open  the  door  on  a  crack  and  peep 
out ;  and  when  Louis  and  the  mate  stumbled  along  the 
alley-way  by  our  windows,  it  sounded  to  her  like  the  tramp 
of  a  ball-and-chain  gang. 

As  soon  as  Louis  was  secured  we  turned  our  attention  to 
the  second  mate  again,  and  after  reaching  the  conclusion 
that  there  was  no  internal  hemorrhage,  or,  at  least,  none 
that  our  slight  skill  could  detect,  we  drew  the  edges  of  the 
wound  together,  into  which  you  might  easily  have  thrust  a 
plum,  securing  them  with  adhesive  plaster,  and  then  bound 
up  the  cut  with  listerine-soaked  cloths.  Poor  fellow  !  he 
had  a  bad  night.  Two  heavy  doses  of  laudanum  and  a 
five-grain  opium  pill  had  no  more  effect  on  him  than  so 
much  nitre  ;  and  it  was  not  until  shortly  before  eight  this 
morning  that  he  dozed  away,  only  to  be  aroused  by  the 
clang  of  the  huge  breakfast- bell  just  without  his  door.  He 
is  suffering  dreadfully,  has  a  high  fever,  and  has  conceived 
the  notion  that  he  is  in  slivers  inside. 

At  8.15  this  morning  the  after  wheel-house  door  was 
opened,  and  the  captain  asked  Louis  if  there  was  anything 
that  he  wanted,  to  which  the  Frenchman  answered  by  turn- 
ing his  back  with  a  shrug.  Then  the  skipper  said  to  him, 
*'  I  just  came  to  tell  you  that  you're  no  longer  a  seaman 
aboard  this  ship.  You're  a  prisoner,  and  will  remain  so 
till  I  hand  you  over  to  the  authorities  in  San  Francisco. ' ' 
Then  breakfast,  consisting  of  burgoo,  hard  bread,  salt  beef, 
and  coffee,  was  taken  to  him,  and  he  was  left  alone  till 
one  o'clock,  when  a  pannikin  of  soup  was  carried  to  him, 
which  he  refused,  although  he  ate  another  piece  of  salt 
beef  and  a  huge  piece  of  soft  bread.  The  manacles  are 
knocked  off  when  he  eats,  after  which  they  are  locked  on 

31S 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

again,  and  he  is  then  left  utterly  alone.  He  is  not  allowed 
to  enter  the  forecastle  upon  any  pretext,  and  when  it  is 
necessary  for  him  to  go  forward,  the  mate  follows  immedi- 
ately behind. 

At  a  little  before  nine  this  morning,  as  I  was  reading  by 
the  wheel-house,  Paddy,  who  was  steering,  leaned  out  and 
whispered,  "Look,  the  old  man's  goin'  to  read  the  riot 
act."  I  glanced  forward,  and  saw  that  the  ship's  company 
had  been  mustered  aft  on  the  main-deck,  with  the  captain 
glaring  at  them,  but  not  in  the  least  excited.  I  reached 
the  break  of  the  poop  just  in  time  to  hear  what  it  was 
about.  Said  the  skipper  :  "I  hear  you  men  are  finding 
fault  with  the  food  and  say  Pm  starving  you  ;  is  that  so  ?" 

Tim,  with  a  villanous  twist,  came  forward,  and  said, 
"  It  is,  sor  ;  and  we  don't  get  enough  wather  to  wash  our 
hands  wid, ' '  holding  out  two  dirty  paws. 

"Not  enough  to  wash  your  hands  with,  eh?"  said  the 
old  man.  * '  It  looks  to  me  as  if  there  was  plenty  of  water 
over  the  side,  and  I  believe  you've  got  enough  salt-water 
soap.      Is  that  all  you've  got  to  say?" 

"  It  is,  sor,"  said  Tim. 

"Is  there  any  one  else  in  the  same  fix?"  asked  the 
skipper. 

Coleman  then  stepped  out  and  said  the  same  thing  about 
the  food  and  water.  Every  one  else  seemed  to  find  some- 
thing mighty  interesting  in  the  deck-seams. 

"All  right.  Mr.  Goggins,  you  will  see  that  the  men  are 
put  on  government  allowance  from  now  till  I  see  fit  to  stop 
it.     You  can  go  forrad,"  he  added  to  the  men. 

It  must  be  explained  that  on  Yankee  ships  it  is  not  cus- 
tomary to  put  men  on  the  allowance  prescribed  by  law  as 
it  is  on  foreign  ships.  On  some  of  our  ships  the  men  are 
fed  very  well  and  on  others  miserably.  We  began  here  by 
giving  all  sorts  of  extra  things  to  the  men,   apple-sauce, 

319 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

cheap  jam,  butter,  etc.,  and  when  these  "delicacies"  ran 
out  the  men  thought  it  strange,  and  then  by  and  by,  ac- 
cording to  some  of  the  most  trustworthy  of  the  sailors,  the 
bread  and  meat  themselves  began  to  grow  less  and  less. 
It  would  be  much  better  if  long-voyage  American  ships 
would  adhere  to  the  government  allowance,  and  not  give 
the  men  sweets  one  month  and  then  suddenly  stop  them 
entirely  ;  such  a  course  always  breeds  discontent  ;  and  I 
have  noticed  that  the  mates  have  not  been  able  to  get  any 
more  work  out  of  the  men  here  even  when  they  were  luxu- 
riating in  their  jam  and  butter,  etc. ,  than  they  did  on  the 
English  "  Mandalore,"  where  everything  was  weighed  out 
to  the  ounce,  and  no  ' '  fixins. ' ' 

The  serenity  that  ought  to  accompany  a  sea- voyage  has 
been  savagely  dissipated,  for  go  on  deck  and  approach  the 
wheel-house,  and  you  instinctively  recoil  when  you  think 
that  it  perhaps  contains  a  murderer.  Go  below  to  meals, 
and  the  smile  vanishes  from  your  face  as  your  thoughts 
revert  to  the  wounded  man  groaning  in  his  dingy  cavern. 
Over  the  ship  hovers  a  silence  such  as  falls  upon  a  com- 
munity when  Death  stalks  through  its  midst.  The  men 
look  grave,  the  mate  gives  his  orders  in  low  tones,  and 
instead  of  the  ringing  chanties,  the  halliards  are  tautened 
up  to  a  mufHed  '  *  oh  ho"  ;  and  the  pumps  would  revolve 
in  utter  silence  but  for  their  own  grinding  clank. 

As  for  the  day,  it  was  magnificent,  and  we  continue  to 
surge  along  over  a  sparkling  ocean.  Latitude,  4°  30' 
south  ;  longitude,  109°  58'  west. 

August  20 

After  the  excitement  and  turmoil  incident  to  such  an 
affair  as  happened  yesterday,  or  rather  the  night  before 
last,  it  is  hard  to  get  at  the  real  facts  of  the  case  until  the 
agitation  calms  down.     Therefore  it  was  not  until  a  little 

320 


BY    WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

while  ago  that  we  learned  the  truth  about  the  row  between 
Louis  and  Chips.  It  appears  that  before  stowing  away 
the  heavy  suit  of  sails  when  they  had  been  unbent,  some 
slight  repairs  were  necessary  on  the  lower  foretop-sail. 
They  were  completed  day  before  yesterday,  and  the  sail 
was  carefully  rolled  and  tied  up.  The  men  were  ordered 
to  rinse  the  paint  of^  their  hands  with  kerosene,  furnished 
them  by  the  carpenter,  so  that  they  should  leave  no  finger- 
marks on  the  white  duck.  Afteru-ard,  for  some  unknown 
reason,  Louis  wanted  more  oil,  and  personally  went  into 
the  carpenter-shop  to  get  it.  Now,  it  is  one  of  the  strictest 
rules  aboard  all  ships  that  no  sailor  shall  ever  enter  the 
carpenter-shop  in  the  absence  of  Chips  ;  and  when  the 
latter,  no  doubt  in  an  ugly  mood,  found  Louis  in  there,  he 
threw  him  out.  After  the  fight  the  Frenchman  was  in  a 
blind  passion,  and  there  were  probably  two  reasons  for  his 
taking  summary  vengeance  upon  the  second  mate.  In  the 
first  place,  I  have  often  seen  him  flush  up  with  anger  at 
the  way  in  which  some  of  the  men  have  been  treated,  this 
being  his  first  American  ship  ;  and  he  probably  determined 
that  if  either  mate  laid  hand  on  him  unlawfully,  he  would 
show  them  that  there  was  at  least  one  man  forward  with 
the  courage  to  defend  himself.  The  second  mate  took 
him  by  the  throat  (Rarx  admits  that)  while  he,  Louis,  was 
quietly  standing  by  the  chicken-coop  cutting  off  a  plug  of 
tobacco,  being  at  the  time  perfectly  well  behaved,  and  the 
Frenchman,  remembering  his  comrades,  used  his  knife, 
ready  in  his  hand.  In  the  second  place,  the  name  which 
the  second  mate  called  him  was  the  last  straw.  English, 
German,  Scandinavian,  and  American  sailors  do  not  seem 
to  care  what  they  are  called  by  the  mates  ;  but  any  one  of 
the  violent  Latin  races  always  resents  this  epithet  with  all 
the  fury  of  which  they  are  possessed.  It  is  inconceivable, 
anyhow,  why  Rarx  should  have  stirred  up  the  row  again. 

31  321 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

Chips  ejected  Louis  from  his  shop.  All  right ;  he  is  there 
to  guard  that  part  of  the  ship,  and  did  right  in  heaving 
him  out  of  it ;  yet  the  second  mate  must  needs  rake  it  all 
up  again  two  hours  afterward,  when  he  didn't  even  see  the 
original  disturbance.  Gradually  I  am  beginning  to  lean 
toward  the  belief  that  Rarx  and  Louis  have  had  a  grudge 
against  each  other  for  a  long  time,  and  mayhap  that  little 
incident  in  the  South  Atlantic  while  the  sails  were  being 
shifted,  during  which  Rarx  nearly  threw  the  Frenchman 
off  one  of  the  mizzen-top-sail-yards,  was  not  so  much  of  an 
accident  as  it  seemed. 

By  far  the  gravest  question  now  is,  was  the  knife  that  did 
the  deed  rusty  ?  It  was  a  sheath-knife  such  as  all  sailors 
carry  in  a  little  leathern  scabbard  by  the  hip.  It  must  have 
been  fairly  bright,  though,  as  there  has  been  a  great  deal  of 
use  lately  for  sheath-knives  in  cutting  away  old  chafing 
gear,  and  therein  lies  Rarx's  salvation.  His  sufferings  are 
very  great  now  ;  at  long  intervals  he  is  somewhat  easier, 
but  he  groans  almost  continuously  in  what  seems  to  be  ex- 
cruciating agony,  his  breath  comes  in  gasps,  and  perspira- 
tion oozes  from  his  face  in  large  beads,  as  he  wallows  and 
squirms  in  his  narrow,  hot  bunk,  almost  crying  aloud  some- 
times when  the  ship  rolls. 

And  what  of  Louis  ?  He  has  been  removed  to  the  laza- 
rette  and  fastened,  still  handcuffed,  to  a  thick  stanchion. 
There  he  sits  brooding  in  the  gloom,  for  no  light  penetrates 
the  apartment  save  by  the  booby-hatch  that  leads  into  it, 
secured  with  a  chain  heavy  enough  for  a  maintop-sail- 
sheet.  He  has,  however,  plenty  of  air  and  good  food,  in- 
cluding soft  bread,  which  is  no  longer  given  to  the  men  ; 
but  there  is  not  space  enough  for  him  to  stand  upright  in, 
a  kneeling  posture  being  the  most  elevated  that  he  can 
assume.  Still,  there's  nothing  else  to  do  with  him,  for  he 
certainly  couldn'  t  be  allowed  at  large.      Three  times  a  day 

322 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

the  mate  carries  him  his  food,  Hberates  him  when  he  has 
finished  and  marches  him  forward,  walking  about  five  feet 
behind  him,  his  hand  gripping  a  pistol  in  his  hip-pocket, 
ready  for  the  least  false  move  on  the  part  of  the  French- 
man or  any  one  else.  The  latter' s  face  is  a  study  as  he 
walks  rapidly  forward,  his  heavy,  dark  brows  hanging 
sulkily  over  flashing  eyes  which  he  never  raises  from  the 
deck.  Through  the  midst  of  his  shipmates  he  strides 
silently  with  bare  feet,  his  immovable  face  shrouded  in  deep 
scowls,  looking  neither  to  the  right  nor  left.  They  make 
way  for  him  with  averted  heads  as  he  passes  through,  fol- 
lowed by  his  jailer,  and  the  men  close  up  again  as  after  the 
passage  of  a  blood-hound  in  leash.  Then  in  a  moment 
back  again  he  hurries  along  the  deck,  mounts  the  poop- 
ladder,  descends  into  the  dusky  recess,  holds  out  his  hands, 
the  irons  are  snapped  on,  with  the  chains  between,  and  he  is 
left  for  another  five  or  six  hours  to  muse  in  solitude  upon  his 
bloody  deed.  His  face  shows  as  yet  no  indication  of  relent- 
ing ;  but  as  day  after  day  drags  on  in  all  its  awful  loneliness 
even  his  nature,  however  dauntless,  must  at  last  succumb  to 
that  most  terrible  of  all  punishments,  solitary  confinement. 
As  for  the  rest  of  the  men,  they  have  recovered  some- 
what and  go  about  their  work  much  as  usual,  bar  the 
chanties,  and  I  had  lately  another  chance  for  a  word  with 
honest  Paddy.  ' '  What  do  you  think  of  this  affair  ?' '  I 
asked  him.  ''Well,  I  can't  say  I'm  surprised,"  he  an- 
swered. **  How  is  that?"  wishing  to  sound  him.  "Mr. 
Rarx  has  always  seemed  a  pretty  decent  fellow. "  * '  Decent 
fellow  !"  he  replied.  "  Say,  look  here,  I  didn't  say  much 
about  him  to  you  the  other  day,  but  I'll  tell  you  what  now, 
there's  not  a  single  man  in  the  fo'c's'l  what' 11  say  a  good 
word  for  him,  'ceptin'  that  he's  a  fine  sailor-man.  His  tem- 
per's hell,"  he  went  on,  and  I  expected  to  hear  of  some 
more  fine  examples  of  discipline,  for  we  were  on  the  fore- 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

castle-head  and  not  likely  to  be  seen,  when  ' '  Come,  come, 
Paddy,  this  ain't  the  dog-watch,"  broke  sharply  in,  and  we 
perceived  the  stalwart  shoulders  of  the  bosun  rise  above 
the  ladder,  which,  of  course,  ended  the  conversation. 

My  wife  is  rapidly  recovering  from  her  nervousness, 
having  in  this  respect  exhibited  almost  miraculous  recu- 
perative powers.  What  a  trying,  not  to  say  a  terrible,  posi- 
tion for  a  woman  to  be  placed  in  !  What  a  miserable  ter- 
mination to  a  voyage  undertaken  solely  for  pleasure  ! 
Indeed,  though,  while  we  have  enjoyed  the  sea  as  much, 
perhaps  more,  than  we  ever  did  before,  there  have  been 
so  many  adverse  conditions  on  board  with  which  we  have 
had  to  contend,  that,  after  all,  this  is  a  more  or  less  ap- 
propriate termination  to  the  passage.  When  Louis  was 
first  put  into  the  lazarette  my  wife  didn't  like  it  at  all,  as 
our  room  adjoins  it,  though  separated  by  a  stout  partition 
or  bulkhead  ;  we  have  allayed  her  fears,  though,  and  we 
never  hear  so  much  as  the  clink  of  the  chain  from  the 
Frenchman,  even  at  night.  It  is  fortunate  that  our  rela- 
tives have  no  suspicion  of  our  position. 

We  are  now  permanently  three  hands  short,  for  old  Neil- 
sen  is  still  so  seedy  that  his  most  arduous  tasks  are  making 
sennit  and  mats  and  pointing  and  putting  Turk's-heads  on 
ropes.  At  noon  we  found  that  a  strong  southwesterly  cur- 
rent had  retarded  us,  and  we  are  not  as  far  north  by  half  a 
degree  as  we  supposed.  Precisely  the  same  weather  con- 
ditions prevail,  this  great  ocean  being  still  in  a  state  of 
absolute  rest.  The  wind  is  now  east  ;  an  advantage,  as  it 
allows  every  sail  to  draw.  Latitude,  2°  49'  south  ;  longi- 
tude, 112°  30'  west. 

August  21 

Mr.  Rarx  is  somewhat  improved,  we  think,  and  this 
afternoon  he  is  not  in  so  much  pain.     When  I  went  in  to 

324 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE    HORN 

see  him  yesterday  I  was  shocked  at  his  appearance.  His 
face  was  swollen  and  puffed  and  glistening  with  perspira- 
tion ;  he  twitched  suddenly  in  jerks  and  was  so  exhausted 
that  a  dozen  consecutive  words  wore  him  completely  out. 
The  worst  of  all,  however,  was  his  rambling  speech,  due  to 
five-grain  doses  of  opium  ;  these  seem  to  me  to  be  prodigi- 
ous amounts  to  administer,  and  perhaps  account  for  the 
excessive  cardiac  palpitation  from  which  he  suffers.  Dur- 
ing breakfast  this  morning  he  had  a  dreadful  spasm  of  pain, 
and  we  could  hear  him  crying,  "  Oh,  oh,  oh,  oh  !"  and  it 
was  miserable  to  see  this  powerful  man  stricken  down  at 
one  blow. 

Louis  still  conducts  himself  with  the  grim  indifference  of 
a  Sioux  Indian  ;  his  chains  have  been  double-riveted  and 
shackled,  and  an  idea  of  the  massiveness  of  the  gear  may 
be  obtained  when  it  is  said  that  the  stanchion  to  which  he 
is  secured  is  five  inches  square  and  only  four  feet  high,  that 
being  the  amount  of  head-room  in  the  lazarette.  The  skip- 
per has  to  stand  the  second  mate's  watches  now,  which  is 
hard  on  him,  as  he  is  suffering  acutely  from  rheumatism. 
Lately,  or  since  we  took  the  southeast  Trades,  he  has  been 
most  astonishingly  affable.  We  don't  know  what  to  think 
of  him  ;  his  argumentativeness  has  disappeared  and  he 
insists  on  conversing  pleasantly  at  meals  ;  in  short,  he  has 
assumed  a  gracious  benignity  as  surprising  as  it  is  welcome, 
and  it  proves  that  he  knows  quite  well  how  to  talk  and  act, 
and  that  his  surly  manner  is  simply  the  result  of  a  morose 
temper.  I  expect  that  he  wants  to  leave  a  good  impression 
on  our  minds  at  the  end  of  the  voyage. 

Our  southwesterly  current  gave  rise  to  a  most  astounding 
lie  from  the  mate,  to  illustrate  what  he  believes  to  be  the 
erratic  movements  of  the  currents  in  the  North  Pacific. 
The  incident  happened  on  a  bark  in  the  San  Francisco- 
Honolulu  trade,  of  which  he  was  mate  at  the  time.     This 

325 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

vessel  carried  no  freight,  but  did  a  large  passenger  trade, 
and  always  carried  cows  along  for  fresh  milk.  ' '  Well,  sir, 
wot  I'm  a-tellin'  yer  of  'appened  onct  on  the  houtward 
passage  ;  one  of  our  cows  took  sick  and  died,  and  of  course 
we  'ad  to  'eave  'er  over  the  side,  which  we  did  in  the  north- 
east Trades.  We  reached  'Onolulu  all  right,  and  started 
back  ag'in  for  San  Francisco,  when  one  mornin'  in  the 
Trades  the  cap'n  he  says  to  me,  'Mr.  Goggins,'  says  he, 
'wot's  that?'  'Wot' swot?'  says  I.  'That  there,'  says 
'e,  a-pointin'  over  the  weather-quarter.  I  looked,  sir,  and 
strike  me  blind  if  there  warn't  the  body  o'  that  cow,  and 
we  two  '  undred  mile  to  the  north'  ard  o'  where  we  chucked 
'er  hoverboard.  She'd  drifted  there  nearly  dead  ag'in  the 
Trades  in  twenty-seven  days. ' '  When  I  told  this  singular 
experience  to  the  old  man,  he  said,  "  The  principal  thing 

that's  the  matter  with  Goggins  is  that  he's  a  d old 

fool."  This  being  the  first  occasion  on  which  I  ever  knew 
a  captain  to  omit  the  handle  to  a  mate's  name. 

However,  Captain  Scruggs  himself  told  us  a  strange 
story  later  ;  but  as  he  is  painfully  accurate  and  never  en- 
larges on  facts  or  figures,  it  is  most  likely  true.  He  was 
bound  from  Seattle  to  Manila,  master  of  the  "Judas 
Dowes,"  and  while  rolling  down  through  the  southeast 
Trades  he  fell  in  with  a  German  ship  which  asked  for  the 
longitude.  They  had  a  litde  talk  together  with  the  flags, 
and  it  turned  out  that  she  was  from  Vancouver  for  Callao 
and  that  she  was  then  one  hundred  and  nine  days  out. 
Nor  was  this  the  most  remarkable  part  of  the  affair,  for  she 
was  thirteen  hundred  miles  out  of  her  course  !  Her  chro- 
nometers were  out  and  she  had  been  drifting  about  in  the 
strong  currents  for  weeks,  working  by  dead-reckoning. 
But  if  this  is  extraordinary,  what  shall  be  said  of  the  voyage 
of  the  ship  ' '  Ravenscrag, ' '  which  arrived  at  Callao  not 
many  months  ago,  one  hundred  and  eighty-four  days  from 

326 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

New  Whatcom  !  This  place  with  the  musical  name  is  on 
Puget  Sound,  so  that  the  distance  which  the  * '  Ravens- 
crag'  '  had  to  traverse  was  not  more  than  six  thousand  miles 
in  a  straight  line,  yet  so  extremely  difficult  is  it  to  make  the 
coast  of  South  America  on  account  of  the  Trades  that  she 
was  half  a  year  at  sea.  Sailing  ships  have  to  practically 
cross  the  Pacific  before  they  can  fetch  a  port  on  the  Peru- 
vian coast.  Another  instance  of  the  delay  of  this  voyage  is 
afforded  by  one  of  our  rear-admirals,  retired,  who  told  me 
that  he  was  once  almost  one  hundred  days  from  San  Fran- 
cisco to  Callao  in  a  training-ship,  which  shows  that  the  long 
passage  of  the  ' '  Ravenscrag' '  was  not  due  to  indolence 
and  bad  navigation.  The  latter  vessel's  voyage  was  infi- 
nitely more  extraordinary  in  comparison  than  the  **T.  F. 
Oakes's"  passage  of  two  hundred  and  fifty-nine  days  from 
Hong-Kong  to  New  York. 

It  is  a  pity  that  vessels  have  to  stand  so  far  to  the  w^est- 
ward  here  when  bound  north  in  order  to  get  the  northeast 
Trades,  but  unless  they  do  they  will  fall  into  a  great  calm 
region  that  extends  from  the  Central  American  coast  to  the 
one  hundred  and  twentieth  meridian,  and  which  reaches  as 
far  north  as  the  thirtieth  parallel.  This  is  also  a  cyclonic 
zone,  which,  at  certain  seasons  (particularly  in  September), 
renders  the  voyage  from  Panama  to  San  Francisco  a  very 
dangerous  one  even  for  large  steamers. 

The  longest  voyage  that  it  is  possible  to  make  both  in 
time  and  distance  is  that  from  Great  Britain  or  New  York 
to  the  Japanese  and  Chinese  ports  during  the  northeast 
monsoon,  when  vessels  sail  completely  around  Australia 
and  the  whole  length  of  the  Asian  coast  to  35°  north 
rather  than  beat  up  through  the  Sunda  Straits,  the  total 
length  of  the  voyage  being  twenty-one  thousand  miles. 
The  following  recent  passages  taken  from  London  ' '  Fair- 
play'  '  serv^e  to  show  the  duration  of  the  voyage  In  days  : 

327 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 


'Ladakh,"  New  York  to  Hong-Kong  .  .  . 
Falls  of  Dee,"  New  York  to  Hong-Kong  . 
John  R,  Kelley,"  New  York  to  Hong-Kong 
Torrisdale,"  New  York  to  Hong-Kong  .  . 
Emily  F.  Whitney,"  New  York  to  Shanghai 
Musselcrag,"  New  York  to  Shanghai 
Ancona,"  New  York  to  Shanghai  . 
Eureka,"  Philadelphia  to  Nagasaki  . 
George  Curtis,"  Philadelphia  to  Nagasaki . 
Vimeira,"  Philadelphia  to  Hiogo  .  .  . 
Englehorn,"  Philadelphia  to  Yokohama 


i8i 
182 
182 
190 
197 
197 
240 
186 
197 
189 
180 


The  "Whitney,"  ''Curtis,"  "Kelley,"  and  "Eureka" 
are  American  ships,  their  average  being  one  hundred  and 
ninety  days  ;  the  rest  are  English,  with  an  average  of  one 
hundred  and  ninety-four,  the  miserable  passage  of  the 
"  Ancona"  having  spoiled  the  record  of  the  Britishers,  It 
will  be  seen,  however,  that  not  one  of  the  ships  went  out  in 
less  than  six  months  ;  compare  this  with  the  run  of  the 
American  bark  "  St.  James,"  from  New  York  to  Shanghai, 
of  ninety-eight  days  in  the  southwest  monsoon,  which  was 
not  a  very  wonderful  passage. 

The  weather  is  as  usual,  save  that  there  is  a  great  in- 
crease in  the  humidity.  Latitude,  i  °  south  ;  longitude, 
114°  40'  west. 


August  22 

North  latitude  !  At  nine  o'  clock  this  morning  we  crossed 
the  equator  in  115°  35'  west,  and  once  more  entered  the 
Northern  Hemisphere.  Our  passage  of  one  hundred  and 
three  days  from  New  York  to  this  position  is  an  average 
one,  and  we  have  yet  twenty- seven  days  in  which  to  reach 
San  Francisco  without  breaking  what  the  skipper  says  is 
his  record  of  never  having  been  at  sea  one  hundred  and 
thirty  days. 

A  remarkable  circumstance  in  connection  with  this  part 

328 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

of  the  world  is  the  low  temperature  of  both  sea  and  air  ; 
the  former  at  noon  was  77°  and  the  latter  only  70°,  or 
about  the  same  as  the  sea  in  August  at  New  York.  In  the 
Indian  and  Atlantic  Oceans  the  sea  temperature  at  the 
equator  is  84°  and  the  air  86°. 

We  certainly  made  a  fine  run  up  from  Cape  Horn.  Four 
weeks  ago  to-morrow  we  were  in  60°  south,  and  have, 
therefore,  sailed  thirty-six  hundred  miles  of  latitude  and 
forty  degrees  of  longitude  in  twenty-seven  days.  But  the 
wind  has  been  very,  very  light  for  twenty-four  hours.  We 
did  only  one  hundred  and  one  miles  and  just  did  contrive 
to  wriggle  across  the  line.  Perhaps  this  is  only  a  light 
spell  in  the  Trades,  as  this  wind  at  this  season  ought  to 
carry  us  seven  or  eight  degrees  farther  north. 

Sufficient  unto  the  day,  etc.  The  memory  of  that  mis- 
erable night  last  Wednesday  is  already  beginning  to  grow 
dim.  Mr.  Rarx  is  improving  ;  the  terrific  palpitation  of 
his  heart  has  ceased,  and  he  has  had  much  natural  sleep 
lately.  He  did  a  strange  thing  last  night  in  the  middle 
watch  :  he  got  up  out  of  his  bed  and  sat  for  an  hour  in  a 
chair  ;  his  heart  was  much  relieved,  he  said,  and  he  cer- 
tainly does  look  better. 

This  being  Sunday  I  had  a  long  talk  in  the  afternoon 
watch  with  MacFoy,  who  confirmed  what  Paddy  said  of 
Rarx's  temper.  Then  happening  to  mention  Coleman, 
the  bosun  remarked,  "He's  been  pretty  quiet  since  Mr. 
Rarx  laid  him  out."  ''Laid  him  out  when?"  I  asked. 
"  Why,  didn't  you  know  he  near  killed  him  when  we  were 
towin'  to  sea  ?  No  ?  Oh,  dear  !  We  were  haulin'  aft 
the  foresheet  and  Coleman  turned  his  head  to  say  a 
word  to  the  man  behind  him,  when  the  second  mate  come 
around  the  house  and  kicked  him  pretty  hard  in  the  legs. 
'What  are  yer  kickin'  me  for,  sir?  I  didn't  do  nothin'.' 
*You  lie,'  said  Mr.  Rarx.      'What  are  you  savin'  to  that 

329 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

man?  Givin'  me  back  talk,  too.'  Well,  sir,  with  that 
he  jumped  on  him  when  he  was  stoopin'  over,  and  I 
thought  his  ribs  'ud  go  afore  he  got  through  with  him. 
Now,  look  ;  a  bosun's  supposed  to  be  on  the  mate's  side. 
But  I  say  there's  no  bit  o'  use  in  a-smashin'  a  man  all  up 
that  didn't  deserve  it,  as  I've  seen  dozens  o'  times  in 
American  ships.  I  must  say  there's  some  tough  cases  sails 
in  Yankee  ships,  but  whose  fault  is  that  ?  It' s  the  fault  o' 
the  cap' ins  and  mates  themselves.  What  man  with  a  little 
bit  o'  self-respec' s  goin'  to  allow  himself  to  be  knocked 
around  the  decks  when  he  can  sail  in  other  ships,  even  if  he 
is  only  a  foremast  hand?  A  dog  won't  stand  that,  but  he 
can  run  away  from  the  man  what  beats  him  ;  but  the  sailor 
can't.  But  the  worst  of  the  whole  thing  is  that  American 
mates  don' t  make  any  difference  atween  a  blackguard  and  a 
man  what's  doin'  his  best.  Some  men's  got  to  be  thumped, 
it' s  the  only  way  to  handle  '  em  ;  but  what' s  the  good  o'  hittin' 
a  man  with  a  block  like  the  second  mate  did  to  Karl  and 
then  hazin'  him  for  the  rest  o'  the  passage.  It's  mighty 
little  you  know  what's  been  goin'  on  here  up  forrad  ; 
they've  kep'  it  quiet,  for  I  guess  the  old  man  told  the  mates 
not  to  let  out  afore  you  and  the  lady.  But  there  was  a 
hot  time  under  the  forecastle-head  some  days  of?  the  Horn. 
I  was  goin'  out  in  the  '  S.  G.  Alley'  a  couple  o'  year  ago 
to  Japan.  '  Black  Taylor'  was  mate  of  her,  the  toughest 
man  in  the  toughest  ship  under  the  flag.  We  were  makin' 
sail  off  the  Hook  and  there  was  a  man  surgin'  up  on  a 
rope  at  a  capstan  ;  the  rope  was  wet  and  wouldn't  render 
easy,  but  paid  out  in  short  jerks,  which,  of  course,  the  sailor 
couldn't  help.  Taylor  spotted  him,  and  sung  out  that  if  he 
did  it  again  he'd  come  over  and  fix  him.  In  a  minute  or 
so  the  rope  slipped  an  inch  again,  and  with  that  Taylor 
runs  over  to  him  and  kicks  him  into  the  water-ways,  and 
was  goin'  to  lep  on  his  stummick  when  the  man  all  at  once 

330 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

jumped  up,  whipped  out  a  knife  and  drew  it  up  the  mate's 
vest.  His  insides  fell  out  on  the  deck  and  he  died  in  a 
little  while.  Of  course  the  ship  couldn't  go  to  sea  without 
a  mate,  so  we  turned  back  to  New  York.  The  sailor  was 
jugged,  and  what  d'ye  think  he  got?  Six  months  !  He 
pleaded  self-defence  and  Taylor's  black  record  decided 
the  jury.  I'll  bet  this  Frenchman  of  ours  '11  get  nothin'  at 
all  if  only  one  man  '11  stand  by  him  and  tell  what  he's  seen 
Mr.  Rarx  do.  I've  sailed  in  a  good  many  American  ships, 
and  in  every  one  of  them  some  one  was  cut  up  afore  we 
got  in.  I'm  thinkin'  o'  the  Snug  Harbor  or  you'd  never 
see  me  in  another  one. ' '  Latitude,  o°  f  north  ;  longitude, 
115°  47'  west. 

August  23 

We  went  along  pretty  slowly  last  night,  for  only  the 
faintest  of  breezes  came  whispering  over  the  Pacific  ;  and  it 
was  so  still  that  we  could  plainly  hear  the  sighing  of  por- 
poises as  they  rolled  languidly  through  the  water  alongside, 
a  brilliant  flash  of  phosphoric  light  showing  where  each 
disappeared.  At  daylight  this  morning,  though,  a  de- 
lightful breeze  came  singing  out  of  the  east-southeast,  and 
by  nine  o'  clock  we  were  making  seven  knots,  doing  twenty- 
nine  miles  in  the  forenoon  watch, — no  mean  speed  for  the 
equatorial  ocean.  It  seems  that  the  light  spell  was  only  a 
lull  in  the  Trades,  for  there  are  plenty  of  indications  of 
wind  round  about. 

At  4.30  yesterday,  after  pumping,  I  had  yet  another 
conversation  with  the  doughty  Scot.  ' '  Have  ye  taken 
notice  of  the  way  the  mate's  slacked  up  on  the  men?"  he 
asked;  '*  that's  a  bad  sign,  now.  Here's  this  man  cut; 
before  ye' 11  remember  how  he  used  to  shout  and  charge 
around  the  decks.  What  do  ye  hear  from  him  now  ? 
Nothin'  at  all.      I  haven't  heard  him  raise  his  voice  to  one 

331 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

o'  the  men  since  Wednesday  night.  Why?  'Cause  he's 
scared.  He's  in  a  funk  ;  and  I  have  the  task  o'  keepin* 
the  ship  in  order  forrad.  One  o'  them,  Tim,  was  goin'  to 
get  ugly  this  forenoon  ;  but  I  turned  on  him  sharp  and 
says,  '  See  here,  now,  drop  that  ;  you've  laid  one  man  out, 

haven't  you?     You  have  ;  but  I'm  d if  you're  goin' 

to  lay  me  out,'  says  I,  and  that  settled  it  for  the  time. 
Who'  ve  I  got  to  depend  on  if  they  do  break  out  ?  The 
mate's  no  good,  and  t'other  bosun's  only  a  child.  When 
Mr.  Rarx  gets  up  again  you'll  see  some  fireworks.  Did 
ye  ever  hear  anythin'  about  Cap'  n  Slocum  in  the  '  D.  G. 
Tillie'  ?  He's  another  hard  nut.  I  was  comin'  around  in 
her  once  from  Baltimore,  bound  to  '  Frisco  with  a  load  o' 
coal.  One  o'  the  men  forgot  to  say  '  sir'  to  the  second 
mate  one  day  in  a  hard  squall  ;  so  Slocum  clapped  the 
irons  on  him,  and  then  near  beat  the  life  out  of  him  with  a 
fid.  This  little  bit  o'  fun,  though,  I  heard  cost  him  near 
two  thousand  dollars.  I'll  tell  ye  the  ships  you'd  ought  to 
sail  in  if  ye  make  another  voyage, — one  of  the  Loch  Line  ; 
they're  grand  ships,  and  run  like  men-o'-war  ;  I've  been 
in  them,  and  they're  the  best  that  sails  the  seas." 

They  are,  doubtless,  the  best  run  sailing  ships  in  the 
world,  and  were  built  not  alone  to  carry  agricultural  imple- 
ments and  wool  in  the  London-Melbourne  trade,  but  to 
take  out  passengers  as  well.  There  are  fifteen  of  them, 
and  all  named  after  Scottish  lochs,  and  they  vary  in  size 
from  twelve  hundred  to  tw^o  thousand  tons.  If  all  ships 
were  as  fast  as  the  "  Loch  Torridon,"  tramp  steamers  would 
be  at  a  discount.  This  vessel  goes  wherever  she  can  find 
a  charter,  and  has  made  a  number  of  wonderful  records. 
She  holds  the  best  record  for  a  deep-loaded  ship  from 
Newcastle,  Australia,  to  San  Francisco, — forty-six  days. 
In  1 89 1  she  made  the  passage  from  Sydney  to  London, 
wool-laden,  in  eighty  days,  beating  a  fleet  of  seventy-eight 

332 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

vessels,  similarly  loaded  and  bound  to  the  United  Kingdom. 
It  was  on  this  voyage  that  Captain  Pattman,  who  has  com- 
manded the  ship  for  sixteen  years,  made  a  record  that  is 
simply  marvellous,  by  sailing  from  the  Diego  Ramirez  to 
the  Lizard  in  forty-one  days  !  In  1892  the  "  Loch  Tor- 
ridon,"  in  ballast,  went  out  to  Melbourne  from  London  in 
sixty-nine  days,  and  the  consecutive  runs  for  nine  days 
were,  in  knots,  302,  290,  288,  272,  285,  282,  270,  327, 
and  341  ;  and  from  Saturday  noon  to  Saturday  noon  the 
ship  made  21 19  knots,  an  average  of  303  knots  per  day,  or 
about  thirteen  miles  per  hour.  Another  fast  passage  of  this 
gallant  ship  was  from  Newcastle,  Australia,  to  Valparaiso 
in  thirty  days.  It  is  easy  to  imagine  the  intense  pride  that 
a  ship-master  must  feel  in  such  a  vessel.  Her  picture  ap- 
pears on  the  opposite  page.  It  is  a  pity  that  her  royals  are 
clewed  up. 

Last  evening  Louis's  coat  and  a  change  of  clothes  were 
brought  aft  by  Charlie,  one  of  the  jolly,  good-tempered  fel- 
lows. "  Lemme  see  them  duds,"  growled  the  mate,  stand- 
ing by  the  wheel-house,  who  then  went  carefully  through 
the  pockets  for  concealed  weapons,  but  found  only  a  lump 
of  tobacco,  which  some  one  had  slipped  into  the  pocket,  as 
Louis  is  a  great  masticator  of  the  weed.  The  mate  subse- 
quently transferred  the  tobacco  to  his  own  pocket,  where- 
upon Charlie  actually  expostulated  with  him,  at  which  Mr. 
Goggins  said  never  a  word  !  The  second  mate  is  now 
doing  quite  well,  and  ate  his  first  solid  food  to-day,  a  bit 
of  dry  toast,  but  his  rations  still  consist  mostly  of  arrow- 
root gruel.  The  captain  told  us  to-day  that  last  Friday  he 
didn't  think  that  Mr.  Rarx  would  live  through  that  day, 
but  a  robust  constitution  has  apparently  pulled  him  past 
the  crisis.  The  more  we  ponder  on  the  stabbing  affair  the 
more  remarkable  it  seems  that  the  second  mate  should 
have  started   the  row.      If  the  truth  were  known,   both 

333 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

Rarx  and  Louis  were  perhaps  getting  a  little  rusty  from 
disuse  and  tried  to  brighten  matters  up  a  little  ;  but  Rarx 
'11  never  take  another  Dago  by  the  throat  again  (at  sea 
Frenchmen,  Spaniards,  and  Italians  are  Dagos  ;  Scandina- 
vians, Hollanders,  and  Germans  are  Dutchmen).  Louis 
will  have  a  very  strong  case  against  the  second  mate  if  he 
can  get  Karl  and  some  of  the  others  to  testify  as  to  their 
treatment  at  the  hands  of  Mr.  Rarx  ;  and  self-defence  is  an 
excellent  plea  when  a  man  takes  another  by  the  throat, 
especially  if  the  said  man  has  been  in  the  habit  of  utilizing 
belaying-pins  for  other  purposes  than  those  for  which  they 
were  intended.  Latitude,  i°  45'  north;  longitude,  117° 
15'  west. 

August  24 

Two  hundred  and  two  miles  !  How' s  that  for  one  day' s 
run  in  the  southeast  Trades  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
north  of  the  equator?  Indeed,  this  is  the  best  that  we 
have  done  for  a  fortnight,  and  it  has  put  all  hands  in  a 
happy  mood.  A  powerful  current  setting  west-northwest, 
two  and  one-half  knots  an  hour,  has  been  responsible  for 
about  sixty  miles  of  the  distance,  but  the  wind  is  strong  at 
south-southeast  and  should  give  us  another  good  run  to- 
morrow. Except  the  Gulf  Stream,  I  do  not  know  of  a 
current  in  the  open  sea  as  strong  as  this  one,  which,  if  in  a 
harbor,  would  at  times,  half  bury  a  small  can-buoy.  The 
heat,  though,  is  very  severe  now,  the  humidity  and  oppres- 
siveness being  extreme. 

The  second  mate  was  carried  out  of  his  room  this  fore- 
noon and  laid  in  a  reclining  chair  on  the  main-deck.  His 
respiration  is  improving,  though  it  is  still  labored,  and  he 
says  that  he  really  feels  but  little  better.  The  probability 
of  his  being  able  to  resume  his  duties  before  we  reach  port 
is  very  remote,  which  is  fortunate  for  the  men,  for  if  Mr. 

334 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

Rarx  should  sufficiently  recover  to  stand  his  watches,  there 
would  be  a  terrific  thumping  of  sailors. 

The  mate  went  below  to  put  a  fresh  pair  of  irons  on 
Louis,  and  in  doing  so  handled  him  very  roughly  (a  cour- 
ageous performance),  so  that  the  Frenchman  sobbed  two 
or  three  times.  "Ha,"  quoth  Goggins,  "blubberin',  eh? 
That's  just  like  you  Dagos.  You're  nothin'  but  a  lot  of 
old  women  with  no  more  sand  than  a — a — a — jelly-fish,  you 
ain't."  People  in  glass  houses  occurred  to  me  then,  and  I 
thought  how  Louis  could,  any  day,  pick  up  this  miserable 
creature  when  he  went  down  with  his  food,  and  shake  the  life 
out  of  him  with  just  one  of  those  mighty  arms  of  his.  The 
Frenchman  is  unlucky  in  having  such  wrists,  for  there  is  not 
a  pair  of  irons  in  the  ship  nearly  large  enough,  and  each 
wrist  is  encircled  by  a  ringlet  of  raw  skin  where  the  hand- 
cuffs have  gripped  and  chafed  it  as  though  it  had  been 
seared  with  a  hot  bracelet.  I  cannot  help  feeling  sorry  for 
him,  in  spite  of  his  deed  ;  for  it  is  improbable  that  a  man 
whose  general  character  is  so  good  and  whose  face  is  so 
frank  and  honest  is  a  villain  at  heart.  Like  the  rest  of 
his  nation,  he  is  very  quick-tempered,  and  upon  the  second 
mate's  catching  him  by  the  throat  his  hand  instantly  flew 
to  his  weapon,  the  common  sailor's  sheath-knife.  On  the 
other  hand,  both  Tim  and  Coleman  look  like  typical  hard 
cases,  with  restless  eyes  and  evil,  discontented,  sinister 
faces.  Why  is  it  that  such  men  are  seldom  maltreated  at 
sea  ?  It  is  only  such  inoffensive  creatures  as  Karl  and 
Briin  who  are  kicked  about  a  ship's  deck  like  curs  in  an 
alley-way.  Such  men  as  I  have  mentioned  first  are  thor- 
oughly wide-awake,  too,  and  know  just  how  far  to  go  in 
irritating  captains  and  mates  without  laying  themselves 
open  to  punishment  ;  and  when  mates  cannot  detect  them, 
they  (the  mates)  "  take  it  out"  on  others. 

The  most  intelligent  man  forward  is  a  New  Yorker,  Dick 

335 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

Broadhead,  and,  as  he  has  been  very  wiUing  to  talk,  we 
have  had  some  interesting  conversations.  He  is  going 
out  to  ship  in  one  of  the  Pacific  mail  steamers  as  quar- 
termaster, which  accounts  for  so  respectable  a  young  man's 
signing  in  an  American  vessel.  What  a  splendid  lot  of 
young,  native  Americans  we  would  have  in  our  merchant 
marine  if  boys  at  sea  in  our  deep-water  ships  were  treated 
as  they  are  in  the  vessels  of  other  nations  !  The  real  Amer- 
ican sailor,  as  he  has  proved  in  our  naval  achievements,  has 
no  superior,  and  if  even  the  mildest  inducements  were  offered 
to  young  men  of  decent  antecedents  to  sail  in  our  ships,  we 
would  soon  have  a  merchant  service  that  would  be  the  envy 
of  the  rest  of  the  world.  Look  at  the  training-ship  ' '  St. 
Mary' s, ' '  which  is  supposed  to  supply  young  men  to  officer 
our  steamers  and  sailing  ships.  I  have  yet  to  meet  with  a 
single  graduate  of  this  excellent  institution  on  a  sailing  ves- 
sel, for  they  absolutely  refuse  to  sign  in  them  even  as  second 
mate,  saying  that  until  blood  and  belaying-pins  cease 
to  fly  in  our  long-voyage  ships,  they  would  leave  them 
severely  alone.  The  existing  condition  of  things  actually 
prevents  our  boys  and  young  men  from  joining  the  mer- 
chant service.  Why  have  we  not  a  Plimsoll  to  strip  our 
ships  of  the  unprincipled  wretches  who  command  and 
officer  them?  Although  not  a  sailor,  this  excellent  man 
spent  most  of  his  life  and  ten  thousand  pounds  in  ameli- 
orating the  condition  of  English  seamen.  If  our  sailors 
were  treated  as  they  are  in  the  foreign  services,  we  should 
have  gentlemen's  sons  as  captains  and  mates,  as  they  have 
in  Great  Britain  and  Germany,  and  not  the  miserable  ex- 
amples of  humanity  that  are  to  be  found  on  the  quarter- 
decks of  the  majority  of  our  deep-water-men.  The  second 
mate  of  a  ship  once  said  to  me,  speaking  of  the  captain  of 
one  of  our  crack  San  Francisco  wind-jammers,  "What! 
Cap'  n  B ?     Why,  he  don' t  know  who  his  father  and 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

mother   were."      If    this   is   the   captain,   what   can   you 
expect  ? 

But  I  have  drifted  away  from  Broadhead.  This  is  the 
second  ship  under  the  stars  and  stripes  that  he  ever  served 
in,  having  been  shanghaied  on  board  the  ' '  Virago' '  once 
two  or  three  years  before  in  a  Chinese  port.  It  was  this 
ship's  maiden  voyage,  and  she  came  home  around  South 
America  from  Hong-Kong,  instead  of  around  Africa. 
Concerning  Captain  Jones,  Broadhead  remarked,  "I've 
seen  dummies  in  command  of  ships,  but  he  beats  the  deck. 
The  first  bad  squall  we  had  off  the  Horn,  I  was  steering, 
and  he  was  so  scared  he  just  held  on  to  the  rail  and  yelled, 
and  I  heard  the  mate  say  to  him,  *  Why  don't  you  get  the 
t'-ga'nt-s'ls  off  her?'  She  went  down  to  the  sheer-poles  in 
that  squall,  and  they  do  say  he  hasn't  had  anything  above 
the  topsails  on  her  since.  I'll  give  you  a  tip  :  the  'Vi- 
rago's' got  three  masts  too  many  for  Cap'n  Jones." 
Latitude,  4°  24'  north  ;  longitude,  119°  20'  west. 

August  25 

So  joyous  a  breeze  has  wafted  us  along  for  tvventy-four 
hours  that  at  noon  to-day  we  were  two  hundred  and  two 
miles  from  where  we  were  at  the  same  time  yesterday.  We 
have  no  current  now,  and  our  run  was  due  solely  to  good, 
honest  winds  from  south-southeast.  At  about  noon  to-day, 
though,  the  breeze  shifted  to  south-southwest,  and  now 
(4  P.M.)  it  is  at  southwest  and  not  strong.  It  is  probable 
that  we  have  lost  the  Trades,  after  holding  them  for  thirty- 
live  degrees  of  latitude, — a  remarkable  piece  of  luck.  It 
was  grand  sailing  then  ;  the  very  finest  that  we  ever  had. 
But  hence  to  15°  north  will  no  doubt  be  a  trying  week. 
It  was  a  matter  of  some  surprise  to  us  when  we  first  learned 
that  the  light  southwesterly  wind  that  blows  between  the 
Trades  in  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  is  called  a  monsoon.     It 

aa  337 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

is  generally  supposed  that  the  term  monsoon,  which  is  from 
the  Arabian  maw  sun  ^  signifying  season,  is  applied  to  certain 
winds  on  the  southeast  coast  of  Asia  only. 

Gracious,  how  hot  it  is  here  now  !  What  a  difference  in 
a  few  hours  !  At  noon,  with  the  sky  heavily  overcast  and  on 
the  coolest  part  of  the  deck,  the  thermometer  stood  at  84°. 
In  equatorial  regions  it  is  only  when  far  removed  from  salt- 
water that  the  mercury  rises  to  such  altitudes  as  130°  ; 
this  fearful  temperature  is  experienced  in  many  localities, 
such  as  Northern  India,  Mojave  Desert,  in  Southern  Cali- 
fornia, and  in  parts  of  Australia.  In  such  places  as  Para, 
Singapore,  and  Madras,  though  close  to  the  equator,  the 
temperature  seldom  rises  more  than  two  or  three  degrees 
above  90°.  Anything  higher  than  80°  in  such  places,  as 
well  as  at  sea,  would  be  considered  almost  unbearable  by 
most  people. 

While  my  wife  and  I  were  reading  on  the  deck-house 
this  morning  we  observed  the  wee  cook  in  transports  of 
delight,  the  cause  of  which  became  apparent  when  he  held 
up  a  fine  bonito.  We  went  down  to  look  at  it,  and  then 
perceived  two  men  on  the  jib-boom  end  fishing  for  them, 
so  we  climbed  up  on  the  top-gallant  forecastle-head  to  watch 
the  sport.  It  was  delightful  up  there,  cool  and  breezy  from 
the  gush  that  whirled  out  of  the  curve  of  the  foresail.  We 
braced  ourselves  against  the  knight-heads  and,  looking 
down  over  the  lofty,  flaring  bows,  we  could  see  dozens  of 
bonitos  darting  swiftly  about  the  cut-water  as  we  swept 
grandly  on  through  the  blue,  transparent  sea.  Far  out  on 
the  tapering  end  of  the  spar  were  Charley  and  Olsen  ;  the 
former  with  the  line  in  his  hand,  the  hook  being  concealed 
by  that  singular  and  universal  deep-sea  bait,  a  bit  of  white 
cotton  cloth.  Charley  kept  the  hook  just  touching  the 
surface,  except  when  he  jerked  it  sharply  upward,  in  imita- 
tion of  the  flight  of  the  flying-fish,  which  form  the  principal 

338 


BY  WAY  OF   CAPE   HORN 

food  of  the  voracious  bonito.  It  would  be  all  but  impos- 
sible to  conceive  a  more  beautiful  scene  than  that  which 
fascinated  us  for  half  an  hour.  The  fish  themselves  were 
of  the  most  exquisite  colors,  some  brilliant  blue,  some 
magenta,  others  of  a  rich  purple  ;  and  as  they  flashed 
through  the  water  with  incredible  speed,  twisting  and 
twirling  about  in  pursuit  of  their  prey,  with  now  and  then 
a  gleam  of  silvery  white  from  their  under  parts,  they 
looked  not  unlike  segments  of  a  vivid  rainbow.  Presently 
one  would  shoot  clear  out  of  the  water  for  the  bait,  straight 
and  swift  as  a  dart,  and  seize  it  in  his  toothless  but  greedy 
jaws.  A  great  churning  and  splashing  would  follow,  and 
then  Charlie,  almost  hysterical  with  excitement,  would  haul 
up  the  lithe,  handsome  creature,  quivering  and  vibrating  as 
though  galvanized.  No  sooner  would  he  be  hooked  than 
perhaps  a  hundred  flying-fish  would  break  through  the 
surface  and  sail  gleaming  away  for  a  few  rods,  only  to  fall 
into  the  rapacious  mouths  of  their  enemies.  The  spectacle 
was  one  long  to  be  cherished  :  the  whizzing  flight  of  the 
glittering  little  fish,  the  lustrous-hued  bonitos,  the  tranquil 
surface  of  the  ocean,  broken  here  and  there  with  foaming 
ripples,  and  the  lofty  tiers  of  canvas  rearing  themselves 
higher  and  higher  toward  the  clouds. 

Captain  Scruggs  continues  his  quiet,  almost  agreeable 
manner,  answers  pleasantly,  and  has  little  to  say  at  meals. 
It  is  aggravating  to  think  that  the  skipper  knew  quite  well 
how  he  ought  to  have  behaved  during  the  voyage,  and 
that  he  simply  didn'  t  care  '  *  whether  school  kept  or  not. ' ' 
Now  and  then  the  silence  is  broken  during  dinner  by  a 
shattering  crash  of  the  old  man's  ponderous  foot  upon  the 
oil-cloth  floor,  while  he  simultaneously  yells,  "Get  out  o' 
here,  you  homely  thing  !"  This  is  an  exhortation  to  the 
gaunt,  pop-eyed  cat,  which  sometimes  slinks  into  the  cabin 
at   meals.     It   seems   impossible   to   fatten    this    singular 

339 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

animal,  and  it  skulks  and  stalks  about  the  decks  as  lank 
and  ribbed  as  a  Calcutta  jackal,  with  its  huge  saffron  eyes 
fixed  motionlessly  upon  you  in  so  startling  a  fashion  that 
it  looks  like  an  incarnation  of  one  of  Cruikshank's  draw- 
ings. Its  notions  of  sport  are  equally  strange  ;  Tommie, 
the  sleek  Maltese,  has  been  trying  to  teach  it  how  to  play, 
but  when  Tom  rushes  sportively  at  it,  the  other  executes  a 
series  of  prodigious,  vertical  leaps,  with  its  legs  flat  out  at 
right  angles,  and  in  another  moment  vanishes  with  an  eld- 
rich  cry. 

Mr.  Rarx  is  about  the  same  ;  two  of  the  men  supported 
him  to-day  while  he  tried  to  hobble  about  the  deck  ;  but 
he  cannot  for  an  instant  even  stand  alone.  Latitude,  6°  56' 
north  ;  longitude,  121°  15'  west. 

August  26 

We  are  now  certain  that  we  have  lost  the  Trades.  The 
wind  has  been  steady  at  southwest  for  twenty-four  hours, 
and,  though  not  a  strong  breeze,  we  made  more  than  two 
degrees  of  latitude,  which  is  not  bad  going  for  this  region, 
and  three  days  of  it  would  take  us  into  the  northeast  winds. 
It  is  intensely  hot  and  moist,  and  heavy  showers  pelt  us 
every  half-hour  ;  but  it  is  a  fine  chance  for  cleaning  ship, 
and  all  hands  are  at  work  scrubbing  off  the  old  paint  from 
the  bulwarks  and  deck-houses  preparatory  to  the  new  coat. 

How  I  wish  we  could  get  a  photograph  in  colors  of  that 
villain,  Tim  Powers  !  I  never  supposed  that  one  of  the 
human  species  could  so  nearly  in  appearance  approach  the 
simian  race.  His  head  and  jaws  are  covered  with  a  thick 
growth  of  bright-red  hair,  which  continues  down  his  throat 
till  it  meets  a  shaggy  breast.  The  body,  powerfully  made, 
is  curved  forward  like  an  ape's,  and  long,  thick  arms,  hair- 
covered  to  the  knuckles,  swing  loosely  well  below  the 
middle  ;  and  he  waddles  in  his  gait  like  a  monkey  endeav- 

340 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE    MORN 

oring  to  walk  upright.  The  best  possible  description  of 
this  animal  is  to  say  that  he  is  ever  so  much  more  like  a 
chimpanzee  than  a  chimpanzee  is.  Besides  all  this,  he  is 
so  dirty  that  the  rest  of  the  men  follow  him  with  their  eyes 
as  he  moves  about  the  deck. 

Those  who  are  not  especially  interested  in  the  well-being 
of  our  sailors  may  find  the  following  dissertation  somewhat 
tiresome  ;  but  the  facts  about  to  be  set  forth  ought  to  be 
known  to  the  public,  as  they  certainly  are  not,  so  that  I 
will  not  begin  these  remarks  with  an  apology  for  their 
length. 

In  every  port  of  any  size  in  the  United  States  there  are 
a  number  of  men  whose  business  it  is  to  maintain  boarding- 
houses  for  sailors, — that  is,  they  are  known  to  the  outside 
world  as  boarding-house-keepers,  but  in  reality  they  form 
one  of  the  most  extensive  aggregations  of  criminals,  thieves, 
and  persecutors  to  be  met  with  in  any  country  of  the  world 
that  boasts  a  high  civilization.  Their  technical  name  is 
crimps.  The  Encyclopaedic  Dictionary  defines  a  crimp  as 
"one  who  keeps  a  low  lodging-house,  into  which  sailors 
and  others  are  decoyed  and  then  robbed' ' ;  but  it  would  be 
impossible  to  present  properly,  in  so  small  a  space,  the 
different  phases  and  extensions  of  a  system  which  for 
generations  has  eluded  and  defied  investigation  and  has 
baffled  the  attempts  of  well-meaning  but  incapable  legisla- 
tors. New  York  is  the  hot-bed  of  crimps,  for  there  are 
more  than  fifty  boarding-houses  in  the  city  near  the  water- 
front. Take  the  case  of  a  vessel  just  in  from  a  long  voyage. 
No  sooner  does  the  anchor  touch  bottom  than  her  decks 
are  suddenly  and  mysteriously  filled  with  strange  men,  who 
pay  no  attention  to  the  captain  or  mates,  but  go  at  once 
into  the  forecastle  among  the  sailors.  They  are  the  run- 
ners for  the  crimps, — men  whose  business  it  is  to  supply 
the  sailors  with  grog  which  they  have  brought  on  board  for 

341 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

the  purpose,  and  then  decoy  and  persuade  them  to  their  re- 
spective establishments.  Every  sailor  at  the  end  of  a  voy- 
age has  but  half  of  his  wages  coming  to  him  (more  of  this 
by  and  by),  say  about  forty  dollars.  The  crimp  at  once 
takes  a  week's  board  in  advance  and  then,  having  drenched 
the  unfortunate  with  the  vilest  of  rum,  it  is  a  matter  of  but  two 
or  three  days  until  the  crimp  has  wheedled  him  out  of  the 
rest  of  his  hard-earned  gains,  and  then  he  gets  in  his  finest 
work  by  opening  an  account  with  the  sailor  for  lodging, 
meals,  drinks,  etc.  He  then  at  once  becomes  the  slave  of  the 
crimp  and  must  do  his  bidding  ;  not  only  can  the  latter 
prevent  him  from  securing  employment  (in  this  free 
country  !),  but  can  actually  prevent  a  ship-master  from 
getting  a  crew,  unless  he  signifies  his  willingness  to  deal 
with  him  ;  and  as  I  have  said,  so  powerful  (politically)  is 
the  crimping  organization  in  New  York  that  it  successfully 
defies  all  effort  at  checking  it  and  controls  absolutely  the 
shipping  of  sailors  in  New  York.  When  a  captain  wishes 
to  engage  a  crew,  not  finding  one  at  the  shipping  commis- 
sioners, where  they  are  supposed  to  be,  he  is  compelled  to 
apply  to  a  crimp,  and  if  sailors  are  scarce  at  the  time,  he 
will  charge  the  captain  so  much  per  head  !  If  the  sailors 
are  plentiful,  though,  he  will  not  charge  the  captain  any- 
thing for  supplying  him  with  a  crew  ;  in  fact,  he  will  go  to 
the  extremity  of  paying  the  latter  a  bonus  for  the  privilege 
of  shipping  his  men,  in  order  to  prevent  some  other  crimp 
from  securing  his  business,  taking  the  precaution  of  charg- 
ing the  sailors  a  fee  sufficiently  large  to  make  up  the  de- 
ficiency. This  fee  is  known  among  sailors  as  ' '  blood- 
money,"  and  it  varies  from  one  to  twenty  dollars /'^r  capita; 
in  our  own  case,  the  amount  that  each  foremast  hand  had  to 
pay  for  being  allowed  to  sail  in  this  ship  was  five  dollars  ; 
and  though  their  wages  are  so  small  (about  eighteen  dollars 
a  month)  it  would  be  useless  for  them  to  object  to  the  blood- 

342 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

money  ;  alternative,  starvation  in  the  streets.  This  prac- 
tice of  paying  ship  owners  and  masters  for  the  privilege  of 
supplying  them  with  sailors  has  grown  so  common  that  it 
is  regarded  by  many  owners  and  captains  as  a  legitimate 
source  of  income  ;  so  much  so,  that  the  majority  refuse  to 
sign  other  than  a  crimp's  crew.  The  shipping  commis- 
sioner, a  federal  offtcer,  is  supposed  to  look  after  the 
gathering  together  of  a  ship's  company  ;  the  men,  it  is  true, 
sign  the  articles  in  his  presence,  but  that  is  the  sum  total 
of  his  connection  wdth  the  shipment  of  sailors.  Why  doesn'  t 
the  commissioner  stop  the  crimping  ?  He  is  well  aware,  of 
course,  that  it  goes  on  ;  but  he  does  not  seek  to  prevent  it 
because  he  is  instructed  not  to  interfere  with  the  accredited 
* '  agents  '  of  the  owners,  and  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that 
under  the  fee  system  in  vogue  at  present  the  commissioners 
are,  to  a  great  extent,  dependent  upon  the  good-will  of  the 
owners  for  their  income.  Any  attempt  of  the  commissioner 
to  interfere  with  the  ' '  agents' '  of  the  latter  would  evoke  a 
strong  protest  from  them,  and  would,  perhaps,  end  in  the 
suppression  of  the  ofhce  of  commissioner  ;  therefore  the 
majority  of  the  owners  insist  that  their  ' '  agents' '  shall  be 
respected. 

In  many  instances  the  commissioners  have  been  utterly 
unfit  for  the  ofifice  they  have  held,  for  they  are  supposed  to 
look  after  the  welfare  of  seamen,  besides  their  shipment. 
It  is  even  said  that  some  have  been  appointed  from  the 
forces  of  the  crimps  themselves.  Others  have  been  com- 
mon ward  politicians  (those  w^ho  know  New  York  will 
appreciate  this),  and  even  a  metal-worker  has  in  the  past 
held  the  office  at  New  York  ;  while  the  most  influential 
candidate  for  the  position  now  at  one  of  our  greatest  ports 
is  a  sign-painter  !  It  will  be  appreciated  at  once  how  much 
men  of  this  sort  know  of  the  grievances  of  sailors  whom 
they  are  supposed  to  protect. 

343 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

The  allotment  system  which  obtains  now  when  sailors  are 
about  to  go  to  sea  is  a  most  iniquitous  arrangement.  The 
law  says  that  '  *  a  sailor  may  stipulate  in  his  shipping  agree- 
ment for  the  allotment  of  any  portion  of  his  wages  which 
he  may  earn  to  his  wife,  mother,  or  other  relative,  or  to  an 
original  creditor  in  liquidation  of  any  just  debt  for  board  or 
clothing  which  he  may  have  contracted  prior  to  an  engage- 
ment. ' '  This  law  was  evidently  framed  to  the  advantage 
of  the  sailor,  but  in  its  ambiguity  lies  its  detriment  to 
seamen.  Of  course,  the  ' '  original  creditor' '  is  the  crimp 
(which  was  obviously  not  what  the  law  intended),  who  has 
turned  the  words  * '  may  stipulate' '  into  ' '  must  stipulate. ' ' 
When  a  ship-master  makes  known  to  a  crimp  that  he  wants 
a  crew,  the  crimp  rounds  up  the  required  number  of  men, 
marches  them  to  the  shipping  commissioner's,  where  they 
sign  the  articles  and  are  paid  usually  two  months'  advance 
wages  (which  is  not  lawful  until  it  is  turned  into  an  "  allot- 
ment"). This  money,  forty  dollars  in  round  numbers,  is 
given  to  the  crimp  ("the  original  creditor"),  who  then 
extracts  from  the  sum  an  amount  three  or  four  times  in 
excess  of  what  the  man  is  really  indebted  to  him,  arranges 
for  the  blood-money,  and  hands  the  rest  (if  any  money 
remains)  to  the  victim.  Frequently  all  of  his  advance  is 
necessary  to  liquidate  this  "just  debt,"  and  the  man  goes 
to  sea  without  a  cent.  On  the  voyage  he  gets  in  debt  to 
the  ship  for  the  slop-chest  account,  clothing,  oil-skins, 
boots,  tobacco,  etc.,  and  at  the  end  of  the  voyage,  if  it 
lasts  four  months,  generally  not  more  than  a  month's  wages 
are  due  him.  This  is  secured  by  the  crimp  at  the  destina- 
tion, and  the  old  story  of  robbery  and  persecution  is  re- 
peated. No  foreign  nation  that  I  know  of,  at  least  none  of 
the  highest  rank,  allows  crimping.  The  government  has 
charge  of  the  procuring  of  crews,  and  any  infringement  or 
interference  by  an  outsider  is  a  criminal  offence,  and,  more 

344 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

than  that,  It  is  always  punished  as  such.  The  United 
States  government  has  never  attempted  to  stamp  out  the 
crimps,  and  they,  in  turn,  have  never  experienced  any 
difficulty  in  prosecuting  their  lawless  and  miserable  busi- 
ness. 

Every  time  that  a  sailor  signs  articles  any  one  or  all  of 
the  following  laws  are  violated,  which  the  commissioner 
placidly  disregards,  and  of  which  other  government  officials 
seem  to  be  in  complete  ignorance  : 

ist.  The  payment  of  advance  prohibited  under  penalty, 
fine,  and  imprisonment.  23  St.  at  L.,  page  55,  Section  10, 
Dingley  act,  June  26,  1884  ;  pages  66,  67  of  U.  S.  Navi- 
gation Laws,  also  subdivision.  Section  4522,  U.  S.  R.  S. 

2d.  Misuse  of  allotment  notes.  See  24  St.  at  L.,  page 
80,  Section  3,  act  June  19,  1886,  and  page  67,  U.  S. 
Navigation  Laws. 

3d.  Payment  of  blood-money  strictly  forbidden.  Section 
4609,  U.  S.  R.  S. 

4th.  Withholding  wages  four  or  five  days  to  bring  sea- 
men into  the  power  of  crimps.      Section  4529,  U.  S.  R.  S. 

5th.  Withholding  seamen's  baggage  to  prevent  them 
from  seeking  employment  on  their  own  account.  Prohibi- 
tion and  penalty,  Section  4536,  U.  S.  R.  S.,  as  amended 
February  18,  1895  5  page  68,  U.  S.  Navigation  Laws. 

6th.  Soliciting  lodgers  (employment  of  runners)  on  in- 
ward-bound ships.  Section  4607,  U.  S.  R.  S  ;  page  71, 
U.  S.  Navigation  Laws. 

All  these  violations  tend  directly  to  the  demoralization 
and  degradation  of  sailors,  and  ought  to  be  immediately 
abolished. 

Why  our  shipping  laws  should  be  so  frequently  broken, 
and  with  the  utmost  impunity,  is,  I  think,  pardy  due  to 
their  ambiguous  construction,  for  many  of  them  were  pre- 
pared by  either  ship-owners  or  crimps  with  an  abundance 

345 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

of  political  influence,  and  also  partly  to  our  lax  method  of 
carrying  out  the  laws  that  we  have  framed  ;  and  they  are 
disregarded  because  it  would  not  be  to  the  advantage  of 
any  one  save  the  sailor,  for  whom  they  were  supposed  to 
have  been  enacted,  to  enforce  them.  The  grievances  of 
seamen  are  not  popular  subjects  with  the  authorities,  be- 
cause of  the  peculiar  obstacles  generally  met  with  in  efforts 
to  prove  them  ;  while  the  amount  of  damages  awarded  to 
sailors,  except  in  unusual  cases,  do  not  ofier  sufficient  in- 
ducements to  the  sort  of  maritime  lawyers  who  would  be 
likely  to  bring  the  cases  to  a  successful  issue. 

As  that  able  writer  on  the  subject  and  champion  of 
sailors,  Mr.  James  H.  Williams,  says,  "The  complaining 
seaman  has  usually  arrayed  against  him  the  combined 
powers  of  the  wealthy  ship-owners  ;  the  cunning,  unscrupu- 
lous, and  designing  crimp  ;  the  sagacity  and  ability  of  the 
most  experienced  lawyers  ;  and  sometimes  the  traditional 
prejudice  of  the  judicial  mind  is  often  turned  against  him. 
With  this  combination  to  overcome  on  the  merits  of  his 
case  alone,  the  allegations  of  the  sailor  must  be  well  sus- 
tained indeed  to  enable  him  to  win."  As  for  the  cases  of 
sailors  suing  for  damages  for  maltreatment  at  sea,  the  diffi- 
culties encountered  by  them  when  seeking  justice  lie  in  the 
facilities  afforded  the  offender — that  is,  the  master  or  mate 
— to  escape  ;  the  obstacles  that  the  owners  put  in  the  way 
of  his  apprehension  ;  and  the  disposal  of  the  witnesses 
— "shanghaiing" — either  by  bribery  or  intimidation  by  the 
crimps. 

Mr.  Williams  has  accurately  and  truthfully  summed  up 
the  seaman's  condition  in  the  United  States  as  follows  : 
' '  The  sailor  is  degraded  to  be  more  effectually  robbed  ;  he 
is  cheated  for  want  of  official  protection  ;  he  is  not  pro- 
tected because  of  his  own  utter  helplessness,  and  because 
we  have  no  recognized  shipping  system  such  as  exists  in 

346 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

Great  Britain,  for  instance.  In  this  country  the  sailor  is 
often  despised  because  of  his  nationality  ;  in  European 
countries  he  is  usually  honored  for  the  same  reason.  When 
this  nation  rises  to  a  realizing  sense  of  its  own  responsibility 
and  manifest  duty  to  the  sailor,  and  provides  proper  laws 
for  his  protection  and  adequate  means  for  their  enforcement, 
both  our  merchant  marine  and  navy  will  become  American- 
ized, seamanship  will  become  an  honorable  calling,  and 
American  boys  will  go  to  sea." 

Over  against  this  wretched  treatment  allowed  to  exist  by 
the  government  of  the  United  States,  for  its  commissioners 
make  no  attempt  to  prevent  it,  stands  forth  the  protection 
accorded  the  sailors  of  Great  Britain  and  Germany.  Sea- 
men are  well  taken  care  of  in  the  latter  country  ;  but  in 
Great  Britain  there  exists  a  system  of  sailor  protection 
ashore,  so  perfect  as  to  leave  little  or  nothing  to  be  desired  ; 
and  the  perfection  of  its  detail  has  led  me  to  show  the  work- 
ings of  this  scheme  in  the  next  few  pages,  a  scheme  that  is 
facile  princeps,  and  that  ought  to  be  a  model  for  the  rest  of 
the  world.  The  shipment  of  seamen  in  Great  Britain  is 
conducted  under  the  superintendence  of  the  Board  of 
Trade  ;  this  is  a  separate  department  of  the  government, 
and  upon  it  devolves  the  supervision  and  control  of  the 
entire  merchant  marine, — i.e.,  commerce  and  navigation. 
The  president  of  the  Board  of  Trade  is  a  cabinet  minister, 
and  of  course  occupies  a  seat  in  Parliament  ;  and  the  duties 
of  the  Board  are  defined  and  guided  by  acts  of  Parliament. 
Among  other  specific  functions,  the  Board  of  Trade  must 
provide  for  the  shipment,  care,  and  protection  of  seamen, 
and  must  frame  and  enforce  (that's  the  great  point)  proper 
laws  for  the  suppression  of  crimping  and  similar  abomina- 
tions. Inasmuch  as  the  Board  was  organized  solely  \vith 
reference  to  the  interests  of  sailors  and  commerce,  its 
ofificers  have  been,  in  nearly  every  case,  judiciously  chosen 

347 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

for  their  peculiar  fitness  and  natural  aptitude  for  the  work 
rather  than  for  any  political  views  they  may  have  held,  or 
because  of  any  influence  exercised  in  favor  of  their  appoint- 
ment. As  a  result  of  this  common-sense  arrangement  a 
most  efficient  and  reliable  body  of  officials  has  been  se- 
cured, and  for  this  reason  the  Board  of  Trade,  from  beincr 
considered  at  first  a  very  troublesome  innovation  by  mari- 
time people,  has  succeeded  in  forming  relations  so  close  as 
to  be  almost  indispensable  with  ship-owners  and  merchants 
throughout  Great  Britain  ;  and  what  is  even  more  remark- 
able, and  certainly  just  as  important,  it  has  secured  the 
confidence,  improved  the  character,  and  protected  the 
rights,  interests,  and  persons  of  seamen  to  an  extent  which 
no  other  institution  in  any  country  has  ever  attained. 

In  all  ports  of  Great  Britain  subdivisions  of  the  Board  of 
Trade,  called  Local  Marine  Boards,  are  established,  each 
having  authority  over  local  maritime  affairs.  Seamen  are 
entitled  to  direct  representation  on  these  local  Boards,  which 
are  now  maintained  by  the  home  government  at  various 
foreign  seaports  betw^een  Hamburg  and  Brest. 

In  Great  Britain  the  shipping  and  discharging  of  seamen 
is  conducted  and  superintended  by  government  officers, 
and  no  person  other  than  duly  appointed  oflFicials  of  the 
Board  of  Trade  are  permitted  to  ejiter  the  shipping  oflice 
under  any  pretext  whatever  while  business  is  bei^ig  trans- 
acted between  master  and  crew  under  severe  penalty. 
Crimps  and  all  manner  of  ' '  beach  pirates' '  are  particularly 
objectionable,  and  if  found  on  the  premises  occupied  by  an 
official  shipping  bureau,  are  incarcerated  without  the  slight- 
est ceremony.  Every  shipment  of  seamen  must  take  place 
at  a  government  office  except  in  extraordinary  cases  pro- 
vided for  in  the  law.  When  crews  are  wanted,  notices  to 
that  effect  are  posted  at  the  shipping  office,  on  the  vessels 
requiring  them,  and  in  other  places  where  sailors  will  be 

348 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

likely  to  see  them.  Men  desiring  employment  then  proceed 
to  the  shipping  office,  present  their  discharges  to  the  offi- 
cial, who  in  turn  hands  them  to  the  captain.  In  this  way 
crews  are  selected,  and  it  will  be  perceived  what  an  excel- 
lent body  of  men  a  captain  can  thus  gather  together.  A 
seaman  without  his  discharges  generally  finds  great  diffi- 
culty in  obtaining  a  berth  in  England  unless  he  can  offer 
proof  as  to  his  previous  service  and  character.  These  dis- 
charges are  usually  enclosed  in  a  sort  of  wallet  furnished  by 
the  government  for  a  small  sum,  and  are  always  accepted 
as  evidence  of  the  men's  rating,  ability,  and  conduct. 
They  are  retained  by  the  master  until  the  end  of  the 
voyage,  when  they  are  returned  to  the  owners  with  a  new 
one  added. 

Aside  from  the  mere  formal  engagement  and  official  pro- 
tection from  "water-front  parasites,"  the  Board  of  Trade 
is  of  immense  importance  and  value  to  British  sailors  in  a 
variety  of  ways  altogether  too  numerous  for  enumeration 
here.  Suffice  it  to  say,  then,  that  the  many  shining 
features  of  this  splendid  institution  have  proved  of  incalcu- 
lable benefit  to  English  sailors  and  their  families,  while  the 
practical  results  obtained  by  means  of  its  beneficent  in- 
fluence have  contributed  in  no  small  degree  to  the  present 
maritime  greatness  and  power  of  the  British  nation. 

Compare  this  method  with  the  American  fashion  of 
throwing  a  dozen  or  more  poor,  wretched,  half-starved, 
drunken  creatures  on  board  a  ship,  who  have  been  robbed 
of  their  small  pittance,  gained  often  when  looking  into 
death's  jaws  without  so  much  as  a  flinch  ;  and  frequentiy 
stripped  of  every  garment  save  the  underclothes  which 
alone  cover  them,  the  hapless  victims  of  the  laxity  and  the 
passive  indifference  of  the  United  States  government,  com- 
mence the  voyage  of  four  or  six  months  in  a  ship  com- 
manded in  many,   many  instances   by  men  little  short  of 

349 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

devils,  and  officered  by  men  worse  than  beasts,  conscious 
that  for  themselves  it  is  merely  a  case  of  ' '  out  of  the  pan 
into  the  fire."   Latitude,  8°  53'  north  ;  longitude,  122°  west. 

August  27 

Last  night  was  one  of  terrific  heat.  Imagine  a  tempera- 
ture of  87°  at  one  in  the  morning,  with  an  atmosphere  so 
oppressive  with  humidity  that  instead  of  sustaining  a 
weight  of  fifteen  pounds  per  square  inch  the  body  seems  to 
be  supporting  at  least  thirty.  It  was  hotter  than  any  night 
that  I  ever  remember  afloat  or  ashore.  There  was  a  pecu- 
liar, smothering  quality  in  the  atmosphere,  which  was  so 
heavy  and  moist  that  it  seemed  as  though  you  ought  to  be 
able  to  seize  a  handful  and  squeeze  the  water  out  of  it.  The 
very  essence  of  humidity  seemed  to  be  instilled  into  the  air, 
and  my  wife,  who  readily  withstood  the  heat  in  the  Bay  of 
Bengal  at  the  close  of  the  wet  season,  nearly  fainted  in  the 
middle  watch.  It  must  not  be  supposed  that  because  the 
air  is  pure  that  people  do  not  suffer  in  hot  weather  at  sea  ; 
that  is  an  idea  held  only  by  those  who  have  never  crossed 
the  equator.  If  the  hygrometer  would  drop  even  to  eighty- 
five  or  ninety  the  temperature  could  be  conveniently  borne  ; 
but  this  almost  continual  saturation  is  exceedingly  try- 
ing. Think  of  the  sufferings  of  passengers  in  the  Red  Sea, 
when  steamers  often  have  to  alter  their  course  and  proceed 
against  the  wind  to  prevent  people  from  dying  of  heat  apo- 
plexy ! 

The  captain  has  once  more  donned  his  white  drill  suits, 
the  jackets  of  which  button  closely  up  under  the  throat,  like 
soldiers'  tunics  in  the  tropics.  By  this  arrangement  it  is 
not  necessary  to  wear  an  ordinary  shirt  underneath  ;  and 
at  first  glance  the  skipper  looks  to  be  most  suitably  and 
airily  attired,  and  you  envy  him  the  possession  of  his  gos- 
samer tunics,  until  at  meals,  when  there  is  an  expansion  of 

350 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

his  corporeal  sphericity  which  opens  the  spaces  between 
the  tunic  buttons.  And  then,  oh,  horrors  !  the  sight  is 
blasted  by  the  lurid  glare  of  a  red  flannel  undershirt  !  Red 
flannel  on  the  equator  !  It  is  enough  to  throttle  you,  and 
the  temperature  instantly  rises  several  degrees.  No  man 
ought  to  be  allowed  to  so  afflict  his  fellow-creatures. 

Last  night  when  I  went  on  deck  at  9. 30  the  skipper  was 
on  the  lee  side,  looking  at  the  heavens.  On  seeing  me  he 
said,  **Well,  there's  our  old  friend,  the  pole  star;  we 
haven't  seen  him  for  many  a  day."  Now,  I  ought  to  have 
known  better  than  to  attempt  any  joke,  but  it  seemed 
likely  that  he  would  surely  know  this  ancient  pleasantry  of 
mariners,  so  I  answered, — 

'  *  Yes  ;  as  the  saying  is,  the  pole  star  is  the  first  land 
you  make  coming  up  from  Cape  Horn." 

This  threw  him  into  a  grave  meditation,  at  the  end  of 
which  he  ominously  observed,  "I  don't  see  what  you 
mean."  I  had  by  this  time  forgotten  all  about  the  star, 
and  had  to  ask  him  in  turn  what  he  meant. 

''Why,  how  do  you  mean  that  the  pole  star  is  the  first 
land  you  make  ?' '  he  demanded,  bristling  ;  * '  you  often  see 
Juan  Fernandez." 

"Oh,  well,"  I  answered,  desiring  propitiation,  "sailors 
used  to  say  that  in  the  old  days,  meaning  that  it  reminded 
them  that  they  were  once  more  in  northern  latitudes," 

"Well,  /never  heard  it,"  he  returned  ;  "and,  anyhow, 
we  don't  know  whether  hit's  land  or  water."  Here  I  fled, 
unable  to  withstand  the  strain  any  longer. 

At  dinner  to-day  he  unexpectedly  relapsed  Into  his  usual 
morose,  contrary  humor,  and  came  strutting  and  stamping 
Into  the  dining-room,  glaring  at  every  object,  till  his  eye  lit 
on  a  plate  of  rather  stale  hard  bread  on  the  table  ;  then  he 
grabbed  some,  fiercely  bit  an  enormous  piece  out  of  it,  threw 
the  rest  back  into  the  platter,  dropped  into  his  seat  with  a 

351 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

crash  that  shook  the  tumblers,  and  shouted  at  the  quaking 
steward,  ' '  Ain'  t  I  told  yer  not  to  put  nothin'  on  the  table 
but  what's  fit  for  a  white  man  to  eat?"  Deep  silence  fol- 
lowed as  he  dashed  the  soup  around  in  the  tureen  with  the 
ladle  and  fell  upon  his  dinner  ;  and  my  wife,  without  think- 
ing, observed,  ''  Well,  this  is  the  hottest  we  have  had  yet." 
'  *  No, ' '  said  Captain  Scruggs,  ' '  it  ain' t,  hit's  nice  and  cool. ' ' 
Angry  at  this  flat  contradiction,  I  told  him  that  the  ther- 
mometer, unlike  many  people,  always  told  the  truth,  and 
that  it  was  88°  on  deck.  "  In  the  sun,"  he  replied,  which 
he  knew  wasn'  t  so  ;  while  that  devilish  Goggins  smiled 
blandly  at  us,  as  if  to  say,  "  You  can't  catch  him'' ;  but  I 
stood  by  for  developments.  Presently  the  old  man  began 
to  shift  about  in  his  seat  ;  then  he  made  the  curious  re- 
mark that  it  was  too  warm  for  rain  ;  in  ten  minutes  more 
the  perspiration  began  to  stream  from  his  face,  and  in  an- 
other five  minutes  he  got  up  and  left  the  cabin,  almost 
prostrated  with  the  heat  on  this  cool  and  pleasant  day  ; 
though  as  he  departed  he  attributed  it  to  "  them  beans 
bein'  too  heavy  eatin'."  The  mate  followed  him,  with  a 
face  like  a  w^orn-out  wet  carriage  sponge. 

We  have  crossed  the  sun  and  he  is  at  last  south  of  us 
and  casts  shadows  in  the  opposite  direction  from  yesterday. 
We  haven't  had  the  racks  on  the  table  for  two  days,  which 
means  a  phenomenally  smooth  sea  ;  the  ocean  often  ap- 
pears quiet  enough  to  the  eye,  but  there  is  nearly  always  a 
swell  present  that  would  play  havoc  with  glasses  and  bot- 
tles. This  is  the  first  time  that  we  haven't  used  the  fiddles 
since  leaving  New  York.  Latitude,  io°  44'  north  ;  longi- 
tude, 122°  35'  west. 

August  28 

Another  very  hot  day  and  night,  but  not  comparable  with 
yesterday,  when  a  draught  of  air  out  of  the  sails  was  more 

352 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

like  a  blast  from  Tophet  than  a  breath  from  this  great  ocean. 
It  was  possible  to  get  considerable  sleep  last  night,  and  on 
the  whole  we  did  very  well  ;  for  even  if  we  made  only 
seventy-five  miles,  it  was  in  the  right  direction.  During 
the  whole  of  the  first  watch  last  night  there  wasn't  even  a 
suspicion  of  wind  and  the  silence  that  reigned  was  won- 
derfully impressive,  so  that  we  were  deeply  awed  by  the 
solemnity  of  the  scene.  All  about  the  zenith  was  a  large 
area  of  perfectly  clear  sky  thickly  dusted  with  stars  that 
shone  with  a  calm  splendor  not  to  be  seen  except  near  the 
equator. 

"  By  night  those  soft,  lasceevious  stars 
Leer  from  those  velvet  skies," 

saith  Kipling. 

About  45°  from  the  zenith  a  mist  commenced,  thicken- 
ing gradually  into  clouds  dense  and  black,  their  lofty  cones 
and  dark  abysses  brought  forth  with  startling  clearness 
by  great  ceaseless  surges  of  heat-lightning  that  enveloped 
the  horizon  like  undulating,  violet  frames.  On  board  no 
sound  broke  the  stillness,  which  was  that  of  the  Arctic  ice- 
fields, for  minutes  at  a  time,  except  now  and  then  the  creak 
of  a  yard  that  broke  harshly  on  the  ear,  or  the  pleasant 
sound  of  a  light  swell  at  long  intervals  that  chuckled  to 
itself  under  the  counter  ;  and  we  floated  motionless  upon 
the  deep,  wrapped  in  an  absolute  and  breathless  calm. 
And  the  golden,  bell-like  tones  of  the  exquisite  andaiite 
from  the  Sonata  Appassionata  seemed  to  dwell  in  the  air  ; 
tones  which  Beethoven  said  was  his  own  conception  of  the 
music  of  the  spheres,  for  the  movement  occurred  to  him 
one  night  in  the  hills,  while  contemplating  the  stellar  glories 
of  a  clear,  tranquil  sky.  Oh,  what  majesty  in  such  a  night  ! 
Oh,  the  solemn  grandeur  of  this  phase  of  nature  !  Indeed, 
it  is  difficult  to  say  which  exerts  the  more  powerful  influ- 
ence over  the  mind  :  a  gale  of  wind  or  a  great,  soundless 
83  353 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

calm,  when  every  star  in  the  firmament  seems  reflected  in 
the  motionless  sea. 

Throughout  this  forenoon,  too,  the  wind  was  of  the  light- 
est sort,  though  this  fact  was  productive  of  some  httle  diver- 
sion. Shortly  after  ten  o'clock  the  captain  called  our  at- 
tention to  several  sharks  wandering  about  far  down  in  the 
blue  depths  under  the  stern,  and  presently  several  dolphin 
appeared  hovering  about  the  rudder,  offering,  with  their 
agility  and  marvellous  coloring,  a  striking  contrast  to  the 
slothful,  sombre  sharks.  All  at  once  the  old  man  ran  off, 
and  then  returned  with  a  formidable  engine  of  destruction, 
consisting  of  a  huge  iron  hook  strong  enough  to  sustain  an 
ox,  with  a  short  length  of  wire  rope  attached  to  it.  His  other 
hand  clutched  a  mass  of  oleaginous  pork,  from  which  liquid 
fat  exuded  in  the  rays  of  a  baking  sun.  This  delicacy,  the 
mere  sight  of  which  would  revolt  the  stomach  of  an  emu, 
the  skipper  gayly  secured  on  the  hook,  and  then  bent  the 
whole  affair  to  a  long  line  as  big  as  the  main-brace.  This 
gear  would  really  have  been  suitable  for  the  capture  of 
nothing  smaller  than  a  ninety-barrel  whale  ;  but  the  cap- 
tain surveyed  his  arrangements  with  much  urbanity  and 
dropped  the  contrivance  over  the  stern.  There  was  no 
shark  in  sight,  but  one  speedily  appeared,  and  propelled 
himself  with  great  caution  toward  the  bait  ;  his  eye  caught 
the  cable  then  to  which  it  was  fastened,  and  he  sheered  off. 
When  he  had  manoeuvred  thus  several  times,  he  seemed  to 
summon  his  friends,  for  three  more  of  the  creatures  mys- 
teriously appeared.  They,  too,  were  very  shy  at  first ;  but 
at  length  they  began  to  turn  slightly  on  their  backs  as  they 
approached,  a  sure  sign  that  before  long  they  would  seize 
the  bait.  At  last  the  largest  one  swam  boldly  up  to  it, 
turned  over,  opened  his  wicked  jaws,  his  double  row  of 
triangular  teeth  closed  upon  the  extreme  edge  of  the 
meat,   and  he  deftly  tore  the  whole  piece  off  the  hook, 

354 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

while  he  seemed  to  smile  as  he  leisurely  rejoined  his  com- 
panions. 

Then  the  skipper  fetched  another  lump  of  pork-fat, 
which  he  kneaded  and  squelched  in  his  hand  as  he  walked 
along.  Again  the  same  wily  beast  took  the  bait,  and  once 
more  we  drew  up  the  naked  hook.  After  a  repetition  of 
this,  the  skipper,  with  much  pomposity,  rigged  the  harpoon 
and  bade  me  stand  by  with  it  while  he  endeavored  to  entice 
the  sharks  close  under  the  counter  with  another  pound  of 
pork.  Several  times  I  hove  the  weapon  without  the  least 
risk  to  any  of  the  sharks,  though  I  all  but  followed  the 
harpoon  overboard  at  every  lunge,  and  once  contrived  to 
stand  in  the  bight  of  the  rope,  which  nearly  cut  me  in  two  ; 
and  we  could  perceive  the  iron  plunge  down  fathom  after 
fathom  in  the  transparent  water.  Finally  I  did  strike  one 
in  the  middle  of  the  back,  but  the  harpoon  bounded  off 
his  tough  hide  and  he  gUded  away  unharmed.  This  was 
discouraging,  and  we  desisted  soon  afterward,  as  we  had 
to  carry  on  the  attack  under  a  terrific  sun.  The  sharks 
looked  unspeakably  comfortable,  sauntering  around  below 
the  rudder,  now  sinking  out  of  sight,  now  cleaving  the 
surface  at  a  distance  with  their  sharp  dorsal  fins,  upright 
like  sabres,  and  I  was  secretly  well  pleased  that  we  didn't 
kill  one,  for  I  must  confess  that  the  sight  of  a  shark  does 
not  throw  me  into  convulsions  of  horror,  nor  does  it  con- 
sume me  with  the  fanatical  thirst  for  slaughter,  which  is  the 
general  effect  produced  by  the  appearance  of  one  of  these 
beasts. 

Each  of  these  sharks  was  attended  by  the  familiar  little 
pilot-fish,  about  the  size  of  a  small  mackerel,  with  his  body 
wonderfully  marked  with  bands  of  dark  blue  and  black,  as 
sharply  defined  as  the  turning-post  of  a  croquet  set  ;  strange 
it  surely  is  to  see  these  tiny  fellows  fearlessly  maintain  their 
position  just  under  the  gaping  mouth. 

355 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

As  indicated  elsewhere,  Mr.  Goggins  hasn't  much  to  say 
these  days,  although  he  has  recovered  somewhat  from  the 
cataleptic  state  into  which  the  stabbing  of  the  second 
mate  threw  him.  He  was  quite  talkative  last  night  in  his 
watch,  and  congratulated  me  upon  my  not  smoking,  saying, 
"I'm  glad  to  see  you  don't  use  these  cigareets  ;  they're 
bad  things,  and  I  can  tell  you  why, — 'cause  they're  full  o' 
nicoline. ' ' 

The  second  mate  is  pulling  slowly  along,  with  sunken 
cheeks  and  hollow  eyes,  an  ill-looking  man,  and  what  is 
more  miserable  than  a  sick  sailor  ?  Every  one  aboard  ship 
has  his  own  duties  to  perform,  and  scant  attention  and  no 
sympathy  is  vouchsafed  to  the  luckless  man  confined  to  his 
room.     Latitude,  ii°  49'  north  ;  longitude,  123°  5'  west. 

August  29 

The  northeast  Trades  !  Yes,  the  northeast  Trades  ! 
Even  the  skipper  is  pretty  sure  that  they  have  arrived, 
though  we  are  still  three  degrees  south  of  where  they  gen- 
erally are  in  August.  It  is  a  piece  of  very  good  luck,  for 
we  all  expected  to  be  several  days  more  in  the  Doldrums, 
and  those  who  were  on  deck  when  the  wind  came  in  a 
squall  at  sunrise  hardly  dared  to  breathe  or  move  for  fear 
that  it  would  be  nothing  but  a  puff.  But  as  the  hours  wore 
on  and  the  breeze  momentarily  increased,  it  was  soon  appar- 
ent that  the  Trades  had  reached  us.  How  vastly  different  to- 
day is  from  yesterday  !  Then,  all  stagnation  and  blighting, 
withering  heat ;  now,  all  motion  and  joy  and  sparkling  sea. 
We  had  not  a  breath  of  air  for  eight  solid  hours  last  night, 
though,  and  the  wrath  of  Abner  Scruggs  was  very,  very 
great.  From  eight  to  ten,  during  his  watch  on  deck,  we, 
sitting  on  the  cabin-house,  could  hear  him  muttering  and 
thumping  away  by  the  wheel-house,  and  we  privately  smiled 
thereat.     Finally,  after  a  couple  of  hours  of  this  harlequin 

356 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

act,  my  wife  went  below  ;  and  then  I  went  over  to  him  and 
listened  to  the  liveliest  sort  of  arguments  that  he  had  with 
himself  for  nearly  an  hour.  In  vain  he  tried  to  draw  me 
into  them,  and  as  a  last  resort  he  began  on  Central  Park. 
"  That's  a  queer  kind  of  a  park,  that  is,  where  they  won't 
let  people  walk  on  the  grass.  Why  don't  they  have  it  like 
the  park  in  Sydney?  What's  a  park  for,  anyway?  Why 
don' t  they  put  the  thing  in  a  glass  case  ?' '  But  I  let 
him  gibber  on,  and  when  I  turned  in,  a  little  later,  he  had 
wrought  himself  into  one  of  his  passions. 

A  day  or  two  ago  I  was  reading  at  the  wheel-house  door. 
The  hour  was  ten  in  the  morning,  and  hardly  a  sound  was 
to  be  heard.  The  old  man  was  below  asleep  and  the  mate 
was  at  work  on  the  main-deck.  Old  Kelly  was  steering,  and 
suddenly  he  leaned  over  and  said,  **  Can  you  tell  me  about 
where  she  is,  sir  ?"  in  a  whisper.  Then  he  went  on,  ' '  I 
want  to  tell  you  somethin'  ;  if  'twasn't  for  you  and  the 
lady  there' d  be  trouble  in  this  ship."  "  There  has  been 
trouble,"  said  I.  Kelly  glanced  askance  at  me  and  an- 
swered disdainfully,  "  Ho  !  I  don't  call  that  trouble  ;  that's 
what  you  expect  when  you  ship  in  a  Yankee.  What  I 
mean  is  real  trouole  that  begins  with  M.  But  the  men, 
even  the  worst  of  'em,  have  got  such  a  regard  for  your 
lady  for  the  way  she  behaved  off  Cape  Horn,  and  all 
through  the  voyage  for  that  matter,  that  they're  holdin'  in 
for  her  sake."  Whether  this  was  said  with  some  ulterior 
motive  it  is  impossible  to  tell  ;  but  Kelly  spoke  in  a  calm 
voice  as  if  he  meant  what  he  said.  What  he  suggested  by 
his  mysterious  M.  was  a  word  that  I  have  never  heard  a 
sailor  pronounce, — mutiny.  To  them  it  is  a  word  too  full 
of  deadly  meaning  for  ordinary  conversation.  For,  gen- 
erally speaking,  there  are  only  two  things  aboard  ship, — 
one  is  duty,  and  the  other  is  mutiny.  All  that  a  seaman  is 
ordered  to  do  is  duty  ;  all  that  he  refuses  to  do  is  mutiny. 

357 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

Rarx  is  beginning  to  lose  heart  as  well  as  flesh,  and  says 
that  if  he  lives  to  see  the  Farallones  he'll  surprise  himself. 
This  is  unfortunate,  and  we  are  doing  all  we  can  to  cheef 
him  up.     Latitude,  12°  30'  north  ;  longitude,  124°  30'  west. 

August  30 

Our  course  has  been  bad  for  twenty-four  hours,  as  during 
the  greater  part  of  that  period  we  steered  nothing  to  the 
northward  of  west,  and  our  present  course  would  take  us  to 
Honolulu  in  165°.  Ships  are  generally  forced  over  to  140° 
or  145°  even  under  ordinary  conditions,  and  if  we  do  not 
find  ourselves  20°  west  of  San  Francisco  when  the  Trades 
let  go,  we  will  do  well.  The  weather,  though,  is  perfect  ; 
warmer  certainly  than  in  the  southeast  Trades,  but  not  at 
all  disagreeable  in  the  shade, — about  81°  at  mid-day.  A 
very  acceptable  change  since  we  took  this  wind  is  that  there 
have  been  no  more  rain-squalls.  During  the  late  Dol- 
drums these  squalls  were  at  times  practically  continuous  ; 
and  while  the  old  man  did  finally  rig  up  a  bit  of  canvas, 
six  feet  by  six,  to  serve  as  an  awning,  under  which  we  had 
to  crouch  as  though  in  the  'tween-decks,  it  was  not  of 
much  use  in  the  rain.  It  was  extremely  annoying  to  have 
to  gather  up  the  backgammon-board,  two  novels,  a  lot  of 
sewing,  a  pillow,  and  two  chairs  and  dash  for  the  wheel- 
house  half  a  dozen  times  a  watch.  Often  the  squalls  lasted 
only  two  or  three  minutes,  yet  there  was  enough  water  in 
each  shower  to  drench  everything. 

There  is  a  very  ingenious  way  of  disposing  of  the  main- 
top-sail and  top-gallant-halliards  on  the  "  Higgins."  They 
are  always  very  bulky,  heavy  ropes,  and  when  coiled  over 
a  pin  in  the  rail  are  very  unsightly  objects.  To  obviate 
this,  there  are  two  large  reels  in  the  monkey-rail  at  the  for- 
ward end  of  the  cabin-house,  one  on  each  side,  upon  which 
the  free  end   of  these  ropes  are  wound  when  the  yards  have 

358 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

been  mastheaded.  A  bit  of  twine  then  secures  the  reel  to 
prevent  the  halHards  paying  out,  and  another  piece  stops  it 
(the  rope)  up  to  the  shrouds,  clear  of  the  men's  heads  on 
the  main-deck.  When  the  yards  have  to  be  lowered,  a 
sharp  jerk  breaks  the  twine,  and  the  halHards  run  of?  without 
danger  of  fouling.  It  is  a  clever  scheme  and  ought  to  be 
in  more  general  use,  the  only  drawback  to  it  being  that  a 
hand  has  to  mount  the  poop  and  reel  up  the  halHards  again 
when  the  yards  have  been  hoisted  ;  but  that  is  a  small 
matter. 

I  went  down  into  the  lazarette  yesterday  afternoon,  after 
Louis  had  gone  forward,  and  found  that  his  quarters  were 
not  so  stiflingly  hot  as  might  have  been  expected  ;  the 
Frenchman  still  bears  his  confinement  with  extraordinary 
indifference.  Mr.  Rarx  passed  a  very  bad  night.  Lati- 
tude, 13°  17'  north  ;  longitude,  126°  west. 

August  31 

On  this,  the  last  day  of  August,  we  have  but  little  cause 
for  rejoicing.  In  the  first  place,  the  wind  has  been  dead 
against  us  and  light  at  that  ;  and,  in  the  second  place,  the 
captain  is  in  so  churlish  a  temper  as  to  barely  answer  yes 
and  no  to  civil  questions.  Shortly  before  four  o'clock 
yesterday  the  wind  began  to  ease  up,  a.id  by  nightfall  had 
dwindled  to  a  light  air,  and  then  whipped  into  the  north- 
northwest,  so  that  our  course  up  to  eight  this  morning  was 
west,  and  we  got  that  only  by  pinching  her,  so  that  our 
speed  was  seldom  more  than  two  knots.  The  night  was  a 
gorgeous  one,  with  a  sky  that  glistened  with  golden  stars, 
while  a  new  moon  hung  low  down  in  the  west  ;  and  far 
away  in  the  southeast,  over  the  face  of  a  black  cloud,  shim- 
mered waves  of  heat-lightning,  lovely  in  the  extreme. 

By  morning,  as  there  were  no  indications  of  coming  up, 
the  captain  concluded  to  tack  ship,  which  was  done  be- 

J59 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

tween  eight  and  nine  o'clock  ;  and  we  discovered,  when 
braced  up  on  the  port  tack,  that  we  looked  up  to  north- 
northeast,  which  was  by  no  means  bad.  At  the  present 
time,  three  in  the  afternoon,  the  wind  is  a  fresh,  even  a 
strong  breeze,  and  we  are  doing  pretty  well  except  for  a 
long  head-swell,  into  which  we  plunge  so  heavily  that  we 
are  not  doing  more  than  five  knots  instead  of  seven  or 
eight. 

The  captain  is  in  a  worse  humor  than  ever  before,  though 
it  must  be  said  that  the  evolution  of  tacking  ship  this 
morning  was  accomplished  quietly,  and,  what  is  much 
more  remarkable,  without  a  single  oath.  Conversation  at 
meals  has  been  almost  completely  suspended  again,  except 
that  my  wife  and  I  converse  together,  ignoring  the  captain 
entirely  ;  this  would  be  childish  behavior  on  our  part  were 
it  not  that  every  remark  that  we  have  made  lately  has  met 
with  either  a  rough  denial  or  indifferent  silence.  He  asked 
us  the  other  day  whether  Captain  Kingdon  of  the  ' '  Man- 
dalore"  used  to  lose  his  temper  in  calms  and  head-winds  ; 
a  question  which  we  found  much  pleasure  in  answering  in 
a  vehement  negative.  The  sailors  have  resumed  most  of 
their  erstwhile  good  humor,  perhaps  on  account  of  the 
proximity  of  the  end  of  the  voyage  ;  it  is  reassuring  to  see 
them  thus  again,  for  a  score  of  brooding,  scowling  sailors 
aboard  ship  is  an  unpleasant  reminder  of  what  the  men 
could  do  if  they  were  determined.  Indeed,  from  a  pas- 
senger's point  of  view,  I  would  far  rather  see  a  captain  in  a 
perpetual  bad  humor  than  the  men.  Considering  all  the 
ill-treatment  that  sailors  get,  it  is  extraordinary  at  first  sight 
that  they  do  not  vindicate  more  frequently  their  wrongs  at 
sea  by  quietly  dropping  the  after-guard  over  the  side.  It  is 
perfectly  feasible  to  dispose  of  the  officer  of  the  watch  at 
night.  A  single  well-aimed  blow  of  an  iron  belaying-pin 
in  the  helmsman's  hand  is  all  that  is  necessary  ;  and  the 

360 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

captain  and  the  other  mate  are  asleep  below  and  both  could 
be  readily  made  away  with.  But  on  close  inspection  two 
very  strong  reasons  are  disclosed  showing  why  it  is  that 
the  sailor  does  not  more  readily  appear  in  the  role  of 
avenger.  The  first  reason  is,  not  being  a  navigator,  what 
is  to  become  of  the  ship  ?  and  if  they  do  reach  a  port,  what 
credible  story  can  be  concocted  ?  Murder  will  out.  The 
second  reason  is  to  be  found  in  that  wonderful  sense  of 
obedience  to  captain  and  officers  apparent  in  even  the 
most  desperate  and  abandoned  seamen  ;  so  blind  is  their 
submission  to  authority,  however  grossly  and  fiendishly  it 
may  be  abused,  that  they  sometimes  at  the  present  day,  in 
our  own  long-voyage  ships,  suffer  death  itself  rather  than 
resist  him  whom  the  law  has  invested  with  power  so  abso- 
lute that  the  might  of  a  sultan  suffers  in  comparison  !  But 
too  few  of  our  sailing-ship-masters  seem  to  be  possessed 
of  the  ordinary  feelings  of  humanity  toward  their  crews. 
After  they  have  exhausted  all  other  defences  in  upholding 
their  bad  treatment  of  sailors,  they  nearly  always  conclude 
by  saying,  "  Well,  what  have  we  got  in  our  ships  ?     A  lot 

of  Dutch  and  English  scum  that  you've  got  to  lick  h 

out  of  afore  they'll  obey  an  order."  But  how  about  the 
"  S.  P.  Hitchcock"  and  the  *'St.  James,"  commanded  re- 
spectively by  Captains  Gates  and  Banfield  ?  Here  are  two 
deep-water  American  ships,  who  also  have  to  take  what- 
ever crews  the  shipping  masters  give  them,  so  that  they 
are  not  a  whit  better  off  in  the  quality  of  their  sailors  than 
other  vessels  ;  yet  there  is  never  any  trouble  aboard  of 
them  at  sea,  and  good-will  and  cheerfulness  pervade  both 
vessels.  They  have  made  some  rattling  good  passages, 
and  are  positive  proof  that  discipline  can  be  obtained  with- 
out violence  ;  and,  after  nearly  four  months'  experience 
here,  I  believe  that  I  am  justified  in  expressing  my  opinion, 
which  is,  that  bndality  toward  and  the  coyitimial  driving 

361 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

and  hazing  of  sailors  do  not  coiiduce  to  order  and  discipline. 
Commands  are  not  obeyed  here  with  the  precision  that 
they  were  on  the  ' '  Mandalore, ' '  and  many  and  many  a 
time  I  have  seen  the  men  make  a  great  show  of  hauHng 
on  the  braces  when  in  reahty  they  were  not  pulHng  a  hun- 
dred pounds.  Knock  them  over  for  this?  No,  it  only 
makes  them  worse  next  time,  but  that's  what  Yankee 
mates  generally  do.  If  work  is  to  be  got  out  of  sailors, 
they  must  be  treated  jnstly  to  begiii  with ;  if  not,  you  will 
get  no  more  out  of  them  than  out  of  any  other  class. 

The  apathy  and  ignorance  of  people  ashore  is  more  re- 
markable than  anything  else  in  connection  with  this  subject 
of  brutality  to  sailors.  I  even  know  a  young  man  who 
owns  shares  in  some  of  our  largest  square-riggers  who  was 
utterly  amazed  when  I  told  him  of  the  record  of  one  of  his 
own  captains.  In  justice  to  him,  though,  I  must  say  that 
he  took  no  personal  interest  in  the  ships  other  than  that 
they  should  pay  good  dividends,  and  he  really  was  in  total 
ignorance  of  the  modtis  operandi  of  American  captains. 
But  it  is  not  so  with  the  vast  majority  of  our  sailing-ship- 
owners, who  are  fully  aware  of  the  manner  in  which  their 
vessels  are  run,  and  who  go  bail  to  the  extent  of  many  hun- 
dreds of  dollars  for  their  inhuman  captains  when  the  latter 
are  occasionally  held  to  answer  for  some  particularly  atro- 
cious deed,  and  who  in  many  cases  connive  at  the  disap- 
pearance of  blackguard  mates  when  they  are  seeking  to 
escape  ashore  from  infuriated  sailors  whom  these  mates 
have  half  killed  at  sea.  Cannot  something  be  done  to 
compel  decent  treatment  of  our  long-voyage  seamen  ? 
Sailors  must  be  ruled  with  a  hand  of  iron,  for  there  are 
desperate  characters  among  them  ;  but,  in  heaven's  name, 
let  him  who  wields  the  power  be  compelled  to  administer 
justice  in  his  punishment  of  the  men  under  him,  that  the 
disgrace  and  shame  which  now  rest  upon  our  long-voyage 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

sailing-  ships  may  be  removed,  and  that  the  offensive  name 
of  "Yankee  hell-ship,"  by  which  our  deep-water  vessels 
are  known  to  foreign  sailors,  may  be  forever  obliterated. 
Latitude,  13°  43'  north  ;  longitude,  127°  west. 

September  i 

Now  in  truth  hath  Disappointment  come  upon  us  and 
doth  hover  sullenly  o'erhead  on  sable  pinions.  The  Trades, 
the  lovely  northeast  Trades,  which  we  fondly  imagined  had 
reached  us,  did  not  materialize  !  For,  having  blown  fitfully 
for  two  days,  driving  us  two  degrees  farther  west,  they 
vanished,  and  in  their  stead  a  fresh  westerly  wind  has 
arisen,  and  the  weather  is  once  more  sticky  and  showery 
and  the  heavens  are  piled  high  with  huge  wool-packs  and 
glistening  thunder-heads.  But  this  is  not  all.  We  are 
plunging  into  a  steep,  heavy  swell,  that  is  surging  down 
from  the  north  in  great,  long,  blue  heaves  ;  and  it  is  a 
grand  thing  to  look  forward  and  see  the  jib-boom  now  rear- 
ing up  higher  and  higher  towards  the  zenith,  now  diving 
down,  down  into  the  deep  quiet  hollows,  as  the  ship  tum- 
bles heavily  to  the  catheads  into  the  creamy  waters. 

We  had  quite  a  lively  time  at  dinner  to-day,  for  the 
westerly  wind  had  smoothed  the  kinks  out  of  the  old  man's 
temper  and  he  commenced  a  jocose  argument  with  the  mate 
about  American  politics.  It  will  be  remembered  that  Mr. 
Goggins  is  by  birth  an  Englishman,  but  his  papers  give 
him  the  right  to  talk  about  "  hour  constitootion,"  of  which 
he  takes  advantage  at  every  opportunity.  I  laughed  at 
everything  they  said  to  egg  them  on,  and  at  length  they 
both  began  to  wax  wroth,  the  mate  in  a  few  minutes  being 
quite  wet  with  perspiration,  so  that  at  last  all  he  could  say 
was,  "Be  gar's  sake,  sir,"  which  he  repeated  indefinitely 
like  a  hungry  parrot  asking  for  a  cracker.  Finally,  though, 
the  skipper  spoiled  the  fun  by  getting  reallv  angry,  and, 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

gazing  with  piercing  eye  at  Goggins  for  the  space  of  half  a 
minute,  he  utterly  extinguished  him  with,  "Well,  I  guess 
you'  d  better  shut  up  ;  you  don' t  seem  to  know  much  about 
it."     Latitude,  15°  north;  longitude,  126°  west. 

September  2 

Very  strong  winds  from  west  shifting  to  southeast  ;  high, 
northerly  sea  ;  excessive  humidity  and  incessant  rain- 
squalls.  These  have  been  the  weather  conditions  for  twelve 
hours,  to  which  must  be  added  a  fall  of  thirty  one-hun- 
dredths  of  an  inch  in  the  aneroid.  Yesterday  afternoon  at 
four  o'  clock  there  were  plenty  of  cyclonic  indications  round 
about  us  :  a  heavy  swell,  suffocating  humidity,  a  wild,  fero- 
cious look  in  the  enormous  cumulus  clouds,  and  a  curious 
hot  wind  that  at  times  strangely  increased  to  strong  gusts 
that  hummed  with  a  dreary  drone  in  the  ngging  and  then 
instantly  subsided.  Towards  five  o'clock  the  v/indward 
horizon  grew  to  a  uniform  gray,  oily,  and  dull  as  lead,  with 
an  indescribably  menacing  aspect  in  the  low,  greasy  scud 
that  hurried  in  tattered  wisps  just  over  the  mast-heads.  The 
captain  was  very  uneasy,  and  admitted  the  proximity  (if  not 
of  a  cyclone)  of  one  of  those  furious  summer  northers  that 
often  sweep  across  the  North  Pacific  ;  and  it  must  be  re- 
membered that  we  are  close  to  the  cyclonic  belt  which 
extends  out  into  the  ocean  from  the  Central  American 
seaboard. 

At  dusk  both  wind  and  sea  had  increased,  and  by  eight 
o'clock  we  were  charging  into  a  swell  large  enough  to  merit 
the  term  majestic,  the  bowsprit  rising  and  falling  fully  fifty 
feet,  for  the  sea  was  from  dead  ahead,  and  there  was  wind 
enough  to  drive  the  ship  rapidly  up  the  slope  of  a  billow 
and  then  far  out  into  space,  so  that  she  fell  full  upon  the 
breast  of  the  next  sea  with  a  crushing  force  that  must  have 
wrenched  every  timber  in  her  hull. 

364 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

At  9. 30,  as  the  captain  and  I  were  on  the  poop  discussing 
the  second  mate,  there  came  a  report  from  aloft,  and  there 
was  the  mizzen-royal  in  ribbons,  snapping  and  popping 
merrily  away  in  the  darkness.  Then  the  skipper  cast  loose 
his  deep-sea  voice  so  that  it  must  surely  have  reached  force 
12  in  Beauford's  scale,  and  the  sail  was  secured  in  short 
order.  Throughout  the  night  we  labored  heavily,  while  the 
seas  thundered  over  the  bows  and  dashed  against  the  for- 
ward house  with  alarming  fury,  and  then  washed  aft,  where 
the  water  in  the  waist  was  to  be  measured  in  feet,  not  in 
inches.  Broadhead  said  that  at  times,  in  the  middle  watch, 
the  ship  buried  herself  to  the  light-houses,  and  that  he 
hadn't  seen  much  more  water  aboard  of!  Cape  Horn.  At 
three  this  morning  came  another  discharge  from  aloft,  and 
away  went  four  whole  cloths  out  of  the  lee  side  of  the  up- 
per foretop-sail,  and  when  daylight  came  we  had  to  send 
up  a  new  sail. 

During  the  morning  watch  the  wind  shifted  suddenly  to 
southeast,  and  when  we  went  on  deck  it  was  blowing  half 
a  gale  from  that  desirable  quarter,  and  the  ship,  with  braces 
well  rounded  in,  was  fairly  skipping  from  sea  to  sea,  save 
when  her  speed  was  momentarily  checked  by  an  extra 
heavy  one  that  smote  her  rudely  full  in  the  face  and  then 
fell  in  glorious  showers  over  the  forecastle.  Another  fine 
spectacle  was  afforded  whenever  one  of  the  short  seas,  occa- 
sioned by  the  shift  of  wind,  struck  the  big,  clumsy  main- 
channels,  when  the  spray  shot  far  into  the  air  and  was  swept 
across  the  deck  in  snowy  clouds.  Altogether,  it  was  a 
scene  of  wonderful  beauty,  and  we  rejoiced  to  observe  that 
the  dun,  threatening  look  of  the  heavens  had  given  place 
to  dense  masses  of  trade-clouds  and  promises  of  plenty  of 
clear  sunshine  ;  and  if  the  night  was  a  boisterous  one  and 
the  port  watch  had  to  pass  the  whole  of  the  forenoon  at  the 
pumps,  our  run  of  two  hundred  miles  wreathed  every  one's 

365 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

face  in  jolly  smiles,  and  ' ' '  Frisco' '  was  heard  repeatedly  in 
the  men's  conversation. 

Writing  of  hurricanes  awhile  ago,  reminds  me  of  th© 
pertinacity  with  which  the  great  majority  of  the  people  in 
our  Western  States  allude  to  their  terrible  tornadoes  as 
cyclones.  It  would  be  reasonable  to  presume  that  the  in- 
habitants of  a  district  subject  to  any  peculiar  atmospheric 
disturbance  would  know  and  make  use  of  the  proper  term 
for  such  a  phenomenon,  but  it  seems  not.  Hurricane  and 
cyclone  are  synonymous,  and  are  applied  to  circular  storms 
having  a  diameter  of  from  three  hundred  to  one  thousand 
miles,  in  which  the  wind  seldom  attains  a  velocity  of  over 
one  hundred  miles  per  hour,  a  pressure  of  about  fifty 
pounds  per  square  foot.  They  have  also  a  progressive 
motion  varying  in  speed  from  twenty-eight  miles  per  hour 
in  the  United  States  to  only  eight  or  nine  miles  in  the  Bay 
of  Bengal. 

Tornadoes  are  also  gyratory  storms  that  progress  in  a 
straight  Hne  at  a  mean  speed  of  thirty  miles  an  hour,  but 
their  path  is  almost  infinitesimal  compared  with  the  cy- 
clone's, for  it  is  generally  between  one  thousand  and  six 
thousand  feet  in  width  and  about  forty  miles  long,  each 
individual  storm  completely  dissolving  and  vanishing  like  a 
thunder-squall  in  less  than  an  hour.  A  cyclone  may  blow 
for  days. 

In  the  fury  of  its  rotary  motion  and  upward  suction  a 
tornado  is  the  most  appalling  of  all  natural  phenomena  save, 
perhaps,  the  earthquake,  and  the  passing  of  one  causes  the 
most  incredible  and  seemingly  impossible  freaks.  Chickens 
are  stripped  of  their  feathers,  straws  are  driven  firmly  into 
planks,  and  locomotives  weighing  fifty  tons  have  been  over- 
turned without  effort,  the  latter  being  possible  by  the  for- 
mation of  a  partial  vacuum.  Straws,  however,  have  been 
driven  an  eighth  of  an  inch  into  a  plank  by  an  artificial 

366 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

blast  of  air  moving  at  the  rate  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
miles  per  hour.  The  presence  of  a  vacuum  is  proved  by 
the  violent  bursting  outward  of  the  closed  windows  and 
shutters  of  a  house  in  or  near  the  track  of  a  tornado. 

Many  people  will  remember  the  dire  results  of  the  famous 
St.  Louis  tornado  of  May,  1896,  which  resulted  in  the 
death  of  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  persons  and  the  loss 
of  twelve  million  dollars  in  property  destroyed  ;  yet  there 
is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  this  storm  was  an  unusually 
severe  one  ;  it  simply  happened  to  pass  over  a  more  or  less 
densely  populated  region.  As  usual,  this  tornado  left  be- 
hind some  remarkable  mementos,  the  strangest  of  all  being 
that  a  piece  of  pine  plank  was  driven  by  the  wind  head-on 
through  the  five-sixteenths  inch  web  of  an  iron  girder  in 
the  approach  to  the  St.  Louis  bridge  !  This  is  a  perform- 
ance well  known  to  the  government  Weather  Bureau.  Im- 
mense blocks  of  sandstone  set  in  cement  were  dislodged 
and  thrown  down  (in  all,  five  hundred  and  eighty  tons  of 
it),  together  with  two  hundred  and  eighty  tons  of  flooring 
and  girders,  some  of  the  latter  weighing  thirteen  thousand 
pounds  each.  In  Lafayette  Park,  St.  Louis,  another  ex- 
ample of  tornadic  vagaries  was  shown  by  the  fact  that, 
right  in  the  path  of  the  storm,  surrounded  closely  by  forest- 
trees  which  had  been  wrenched  bodily  from  the  earth, 
stood  unharmed  a  flimsy,  straw-thatched  structure  upon 
six  light  posts  ! 

Unfortunately,  from  the  very  violence  of  the  wind,  no 
accurate  estimate  of  the  velocity  of  the  gyratory  movement 
of  a  tornado  can  be  made,  as  an  anemometer  would  be 
useless,  even  if  it  were  not  destroyed.  Experts  calculate, 
however,  that  the  speed  of  the  wind  approximates  five 
hundred  or  six  hundred  miles  per  hour.  At  any  rate,  the 
destructive  force  of  a  tornado  is  ten  or  perhaps  twenty 
times  that  of  a  cyclone  ;  and  if  cyclones  blew  with  the  vio- 

367 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

lence  of  tornadoes,  the  earth  would  be  devastated  in  a  short 
while. 

At  sea  the  tornado  with  its  terrible  cloud-funnel  has  its 
counterpart  in  the  water-spout ;  though  in  the  latter  the 
wind  does  not  seem  to  attain  the  same  fury,  as  many  ves- 
sels have  passed  through  a  water-spout  without  very  great 
damage.  Two  curious  instances,  however,  are  on  record 
of  atmospheric  freaks  at  sea  ;  one  of  them  was  reported  by 
the  American  ship  ' '  Reaper. ' '  She  was  proceeding  to- 
ward Cape  Horn  in  the  equatorial  North  Pacific,  the  day 
being  perfectly  fine  and  clear,  save  for  a  few  small,  detached 
clouds,  and  the  wind  a  light  breeze,  when  she  suddenly  lost 
all  of  her  light  sails  in  a  blast  that  came  apparently  out  of  a 
clear  sky,  while  at  the  moment  there  was  nothing  but  the 
light  wind  on  deck.  Again,  the  ship  "  Sintram,"  Captain 
Woodside,  was  almost  totally  dismasted  of!  the  West  Indies, 
homeward  bound  from  the  East ;  the  weather  was  fine  and 
a  four-knot  breeze  was  blowing  on  deck  when  the  upper 
spars  seemed  to  melt  away,  she  having  been  struck  by  a 
similar  blast  from  a  clear  sky.  Subsequently  I  wrote  to 
the  forecast  ofBcial  at  New  York  asking  whether  any  such 
accidents  ever  happened  ashore  ;  he  answered  that  in  Ne- 
braska and  Kansas  similar  strong  whirlwinds  have  been 
known,  in  perfectly  clear  weather,  to  tear  the  upper  por- 
tions of  forest-trees  completely  off,  including  large  branches, 
while  the  leaves  and  twigs  nearer  the  ground  were  un- 
touched. This  indisputably  proves  that  only  a  few  feet 
mark  the  boundary-line  between  atmosphere  in  a  state  of 
rest  and  wind  of  inconceivable  violence.  As  has  been 
shown,  such  instances  occur  also  in  tornadoes,  which,  of 
course,  are  nothing  but  immense  whirlwinds. 

It  is  my  earnest  hope  that  the  reader  has  not  been  wor- 
ried by  this  long  meteorological  dissertation,  which  has 
nothing  to  do  with  the  voyage  ;  but  as  the  forecasting  of 

368 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

the  weather  has  lately  been  of  increasing  interest  to  the 
public,  perhaps  I  may  be  pardoned  for  my  digression. 
Latitude,  17°  55'  north  ;  longitude,  125°  30'  west. 

September  3 

It  seems  to  be  tolerably  safe  to  say  now  that  at  last  we 
have  picked  up  the  northeast  Trades.  During  yesterday 
afternoon  the  wind  hauled  constantly  to  the  northward, 
and  at  ten  last  night  it  was  northeast  by  north,  blowing  a 
fresh  breeze  ;  indeed,  by  this  morning  it  had  increased  so 
that  we  have  not  been  able  to  carry  the  sky-sails  since,  and 
we  did  another  three  degrees  of  latitude  ;  imagine  three 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  of  latitude  here  in  forty-eight  hours. 
It  is  very  refreshing,  and  even  the  skipper  has  recovered 
his  equanimity.  Up  to  noon  to-day,  though,  the  weather 
was  very  showery,  the  fine  rain  blowing  in  level  clouds 
across  the  ship,  as  dense  as  fog.  The  greatest  change, 
however,  is  in  the  temperature,  for  the  air  has  fallen  15° 
and  the  sea  10°,  so  that  we  begin  to  appreciate  that  in 
thirty-six  hours,  if  this  wind  holds,  we  will  have  emerged 
from  the  torrid  zone.  It  is  quite  impossible  for  us  to 
realize  that  in  another  fortnight  this  voyage  will  probably 
be  an  event  of  the  past.  No  one  who  has  not  made  a 
long  voyage  can  imagine  the  excitement,  actually  the 
excitement,  occasioned  by  the  speculation  as  to  how  much 
longer  the  passage  will  last,  when  only  ten  days  or  so 
remain.  There  is  continuously  present  such  an  element 
of  luck  when  solely  dependent  upon  the  wind,  that  you  are 
constantly  estimating  and  calculating  how  far  the  Trades 
will  extend,  how  the  winds  will  be  afterward,  the  chances 
of  fogs  and  calms  on  the  coast,  and  other  equally  im- 
portant questions.  This  doesn't  mean  necessarily  that 
you  want  to  get  ashore  ;  it  is  the  involuntary'  and  irresisti- 
ble anticipation  of  an  impending  change,  though  my  wife 
24  369 


BY  WAY  OF  CAPE   HORN 

will  probably  not  regret  the  moment  when  the  tow-boat 
gives  us  her  Hne  outside  the  Heads.  Latitude,  20°  52' 
north  ;  longitude,  126°  40'  west. 

September  4 

This  was  a  perfectly  ideal  day,  with  brisk  northeast  winds, 
smooth  sea,  cloudless  sky,  and  a  noon  temperature  of  72°, 
and  68°  at  midnight.  This  is  a  very  lucky  chance  that  we 
are  having  here  ;  we  are  going  well,  about  eight  knots,  and 
our  course  has  been  to  the  northward  of  northwest  by 
north,  showing  that  the  Trades  are  well  to  the  eastward. 

I  wonder  how  many  people  have  ever  seen  the  scale  of 
provisions  as  laid  down  by  the  United  States  government 
for  the  vitualling  of  long-voyage  ships  ?  As  I  have  said, 
the  curious  part  of  it  is,  though,  that  no  attention  is  ever 
paid  to  it  on  our  ships,  except  under  unusual  conditions. 
Yet  it  is  not  so  very  curious  that  no  attempt  is  made  to 
observe  the  scale,  for  almost  everything  in  connection  with 
our  sailors  and  ships  is  performed  in  an  irregular  manner. 
Behold  the  scale. 


Sunday.   .  . 

Monday    .  . 

Tuesday  .  . 
Wednesday 

Thursday  . 

Friday  .   .  . 

Saturday  .  . 


u 

Q 

u. 

Id 

Oi 

< 

b. 

u 

D 

w 

b 

<, 

U 

tc 

u 

0 

< 

< 

b 

0 

OS 

u 

0 

td 

0 

D 

an 

CQ 

Cu 

b< 

cu 

H 

U 

m 

Lb. 

Lbs. 

Lbs. 

Lb. 

Pt. 

Oz. 

Oz. 

Ozs. 

iVz 

5^ 

.  .  . 

/a 

% 

2 

■   ■   ■ 

iK 

Ks 

/s 

% 

2 

I'A 

% 

H 

% 

2 

iVa 

Ks 

% 

% 

2 

1% 

.   .   . 

V^ 

% 

'A 

2 

1% 

Ks 

% 

A 

2 

iK 

% 

% 

2 

Qts. 
3 

3 
3 
3 
3 
3 
3 


Then  comes  a  list  of  substitutes,  such  as  molasses  for 
sugar,  potatoes  for  pease,  etc.     Other  nations  also  have 

370 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

provision  scales,  but  they  are  adhered  to  ;  foreign  schemes 
add  oatmeal,  but  all  sailors  get  too  mucn  meat  ;  both 
captains  and  seamen  say  that.  Our  blue-water  ships 
have  a  great  name  for  fine  '  *  grub, ' '  which  they  deserved 
forty  years  ago,  but  which  most  of  them  certainly  do  not 
now.  A  Yankee  captain  has  the  privilege  from  the  owners 
to  lay  in  whatever  sort  of  stores  he  thinks  fit  (of  course 
neither  he  nor  the  owner  ever  thinks  of  the  law)  ;  if  he  is 
a  generous  man,  the  crew  are  lucky  ;  if  not,  it's  a  case  of 
hunger  and  hustle  for  four  or  five  months.  As  a  sample 
of  the  manner  in  which  the  food  has  been  given  out  here, 
the  men  consumed  an  entire  barrel  of  molasses  during  the 
first  seventeen  days  that  we  were  at  sea  ;  since  then 
they  have  had  none.  Other  articles  were  scattered  around 
in  the  same  reckless  manner,  with  the  natural  result  that 
the  * '  dainties' '  which  ought  to  have  lasted  the  whole 
voyage  had  vanished  at  the  latitude  of  the  Falklands  ;  so 
that  ever  since  the  men  have  been  on  pretty  hard  rations, 
and  Broadhead  told  me  that  when  the  old  man  made  the 
show  of  putting  all  hands  on  government  allowance  it 
didn't  mean  anything  at  all.  Since  the  stabbing,  though, 
all  the  food  has  been  weighed  out  by  the  mate  each  day  in 
full  view  of  the  sailors,  eighteen  pounds  of  bread  {i.e., 
hard-tack),  so  many  pounds  of  beef,  etc.,  and  the  men 
themselves  carry  it  to  the  cook,  so  that  there  can  be  no 
fault-finding.  As  to  the  water,  three  quarts  per  day 
amounts  in  all  to  fifty-four  quarts,  which  is  measured  into 
a  cask  in  the  forecastle,  and  the  men  are  at  liberty  to  give 
any  portion  of  it  they  choose  to  the  cook  in  which  to  boil 
their  beef  and  pork,  or  tea  and  coffee.  These  three 
quarts,  by  the  way,  are  for  all  purposes,  drinking,  cooking, 
and  washing,  though  most  foremast  hands  are  not  much 
troubled  with  the  latter,  except  when  it  rains  hard.  Each 
man  probably  does  not  have  more  than  a  quart  and  a  half 

371 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

ot  drinking  water  a  day,  which  is  a  truly  scanty  allowance 
for  men  who  are  painting  on  a  blistering  deck  several  hours 
out  of  the  twenty-four. 

American  captains  profess  to  think  that  weighing  out 
food  to  sailors  is  very  degrading,  and  they  always  add, 
''It's  too  much  like  them  Britishers."  Personally  I  have 
never  been  able  to  perceive  where  the  indignity  comes  in. 
Food  is  weighed  out  in  the  navy,  so  why  not  in  the  mer- 
chant service  ?  I  had  it  on  my  mind  to-day  to  ask  Captain 
Scruggs  which  he  really  considered  the  more  debasing, 
giving  a  man  a  stipulated  quantity  of  food,  or  knocking  his 
teeth  out  with  wooden  or  iron  implements  and  then  kicking 
him  into  the  scuppers  ;  but  I  thought  it  best  to  preserve 
peace  rather  than  advance  so  hazardous  a  question.  Lati- 
tude, 23°  18'  north  ;  longitude,  128°  40'  west. 

September  5 

Oh,  what  magnificent  weather  this  is  !  It  is  just  like 
those  grand  days  in  the  southeast  Trades.  Our  everlast- 
ing recollections  of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  both  north  and 
south,  will  be  of  weeks  of  a  matchless  climate  ;  deep  cobalt 
sky,  sprinkled  with  little  pink,  cirrus  clouds  ;  a  calm  sea 
over  which  shoot  thousands  of  flying-fish  in  glittering 
flight,  and  soft,  enchanting  breezes.  * '  What  about  those 
two  or  three  disagreeable  days  not  long  ago?"  says  the 
pessimist.  True,  they  were  not  ideal  days  ;  but  they  only 
serve  to  show  off  these  lovely  ones  in  all  their  glorious 
perfection.  We  have,  unhappily,  passed  the  limits  of  the 
tropics,  however,  having  crossed  the  circle  of  Cancer  yes- 
terday at  four  o'clock. 

A  few  minutes  ago,  at  the  pumps,  Broadhead  asked  me, 
* '  Would  you  mind  telling  me  why  you  came  out  here  in 
an  American  ship?"  I  told  him  why, — that,  having  made 
one  voyage  in  an  Englishman,  we  wanted  to  compare  the 

372 


BY   WAY   OF   CAFE   HORN 

vessels  ;  and  I  also  reminded  him  that  foreign  ships  are  not 
allowed  to  trade  between  American  ports.  ' '  Well,  you 
and  the  lady  must  have  lots  of  courage,"  said  he.  "  Now 
there's  the  Loch  Line  of  ships  to  Australia  out  of  London  ; 
you  ought  to  have  gone  in  one  o'  them."  "  Yes  ;  MacFoy 
told  me  about  them,"  said  L  "Well,  they're  worth  all 
you  can  say  in  favor  of  'em,"  continued  this  American; 
"they're  dandies;  carry  lots  o'  passengers,  first-  and 
second-class  and  steerage.  Each  ship  has  what  they  call  a 
double  crew  ;  say  a  ship  had  fourteen  men  before  the  mast, 
one  o'  these  would  have  twenty-eight,  so  the  whole  of  an 
ordinary  ship's  crew  is  on  deck  at  one  time,  and  not  a 
stroke  o'  work  is  ever  done  aloft  after  eight  in  the  morning, 
so  that  nothing  can  drop  on  passengers'  heads. ' '  This 
may  seem  like  getting  things  down  to  too  fine  a  point  ;  but 
any  one  who  has  voyaged  in  a  sailing  vessel  will  remember 
how  many  articles  drop  from  men  working  aloft.  We  have 
seen  at  least  a  dozen  objects  fall  during  the  voyage, — 
knives,  paint-brushes,  and  serving-mallets,  any  one  of 
which  dropping  on  a  man's  head  from  a  height  of  at  least 
a  hundred  feet  would  be  very  painful,  not  to  say  dan- 
gerous. 

Perhaps  the  most  remarkable  and  unusual  device  to  en- 
able the  captain  of  a  vessel  to  pocket  the  wages  of  a  crew 
appears  in  a  copy  of  a  maritime  paper,  which  I  found  to- 
day in  a  bundle  of  the  skipper's  magazines.  It  was  perpe- 
trated by  the  master  of   the  British  ship   * '  S , ' '   and 

consisted  in  his  taking  a  quantity  of  liquors  of  divers  sorts 
to  sea  and  retailing  them  to  the  men  at  immense  profit. 
An  investigation  at  Liverpool  showed  that  this  enter- 
prising man  had  bought  twenty  cases  of  whiskey  at  three 
dollars  and  a  half  a  dozen,  which  he  sold  to  the  crew  at  one 
dollar  per  bottle.  He  also  had  large  stores  of  gin  and  beer 
on  board,  and  the  amount  of  money  that  the  captain  must 

373 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

have  cleared  by  the  various  transactions  may  be  imagined 
when  it  is  mentioned  that  the  carpenter's  bill  for  liquors  for 
one  voyage  footed  up  a  total  of  sixty-seven  dollars,  and  the 
men  testified  that  some  of  them  averaged  a  bottle  a  day. 
It  seemed  to  me  that  the  captain's  punishment  was  rather 
light,  as  it  consisted  in  suspending  his  certificate  for  three 
months.  Of  course,  this  is  a  penalty  which  could  not  be 
inflicted  upon  an  American  captain,  because  none  of  our 
sailing-ship-masters  has  a  government  certificate.  Our  law- 
givers do  not  think  that  any  is  necessary,  though  they  re- 
quire a  stif?  examination  in  the  case  of  a  steam-ship-master, 
another  sparkling  example  of  the  perfection  of  the  United 
States  shipping  laws.  Latitude,  25°  47'  north  ;  longitude, 
130°  46'  west. 

September  6 

After  breakfast  this  morning  we  trembled  when  we  found 
the  wind  letting  go,  for  everything  indicated  a  cessation  in 
the  Trades  ;  but  at  ten  o'clock  they  freshened  again,  and 
since  then  we  have  swung  handsomely  along  over  a  light 
swell  at  seven  knots.  This  is  very  gratifying,  and  ever}^ 
day  sees  us  a  hundred  and  seventy-five  miles  nearer  port. 
My  wife  is  beginning  to  rejoice  at  the  prospect  of  fresh 
vegetables  and  fruit,  though  I  think  I  could  live  very  com- 
fortably on  the  present  diet  for  at  least  a  year.  I  had  to 
tell  the  captain  to-day,  though,  not  to  have  any  more  stews 
for  my  sake,  for  I  couldn't  possibly  eat  another  one.  This 
is  not  astonishing,  because,  when  a  week  out  from  New 
York,  I  happened  to  express  a  desire  for  a  stew,  and  on 
every  single  day  since  then  I  have  eaten  some  of  this  con- 
coction at  least  once  and  at  times  twice.  Four  solid,  unin- 
terrupted months  of  stews  are  apt  to  produce  a  surfeit 
thereof.  What  was  worse  than  anything  else,  though,  was 
that  the  steward,  desiring  to  enrich  the  gravy,  at  length 

374 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

became  addicted  to  the  disagreeable  habit  of  thrusting 
large  pieces  of  aged,  canned  butter  into  each  stew,  after 
turning  it  out  of  the  sauce-pan,  so  that  when  the  dish 
reached  the  table  the  surface  of  the  stew  glittered  with 
litde  iridescent,  golden  globules,  that  danced  upon  it  like 
drops  of  yellow  quicksilver.  Thus  decorated,  it  was  a 
very  pleasing  dish  to  contemplate,  though  familiarity  with 
it  bred  contempt. 

Every  day  now,  particularly  at  supper,  we  enter  the 
dining-room  with  distended  eyes,  trying  to  discover  some 
surprise  in  the  culinary  department.  Usually,  however, 
when  the  covers  are  removed,  there  lie  disclosed  the  same 
old  standbys, — stewed  beef  or  mutton,  cold  beef  and  ham, 
biscuits,  and  boiled  potatoes  the  size  of  hot-house  grapes, 
though  none  the  worse  for  that.  Indeed,  we  went  to  sea 
with  several  barrels  of  new  Bermuda  potatoes  at  ten  dollars 
the  barrel  ;  this  will  show  the  unstinted  manner  in  which 
this  ship  was  stored  aft. 

Sometimes,  though,  we  are  stunned  by  some  fantastic 
creation  of  the  Chinaman's.  Last  night,  for  instance,  when 
the  steward  whipped  ofT  the  huge  pewter  covers,  each  al- 
most as  big  as  an  umbrella,  we  were  entranced  by  the  ap- 
pearance of  something  entirely  new.  In  a  deep  vegetable 
dish  lay  four  enormous  Welsh  rarebits  ?  Oh,  the  gladness 
of  that  moment  !  What  mattered  it  that  the  bread  was  a 
blood  relative  of  india-rubber,  that  the  rarebits  were  clammy 
and  inflexible,  or  that  the  rind  of  a  pineapple  cheese  had 
contributed  to  their  manufacture  ?  Were  they  not  a  change, 
and  as  such  to  be  venerated  and  exalted  beyond  price? 
Therefore  we  helped  ourselves  reverently,  as  became  so 
momentous  an  occasion  ;  and  if  the  compound  did  pro- 
duce an  incalculable  amount  of  subsequent  distress,  we  ex- 
tended meek  thanks  and  congratulations  to  the  little  Can- 
tonite  in  the  galley.     In  truth,  though,  there  is  no  fault  of 

375 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

any  sort  to  be  found  with  the  cabin  food  ;  it  is  every  bit  as 
good  as  when  we  started. 

Last  evening,  in  the  second  dog-watch,  the  Scotch  bosun 
came  up  to  me  on  the  main-deck  and  asked  how  we  were 
getting  on.  I  told  him,  very  well  indeed  ;  and  then  he 
said,  *  *  Before  we  left  I  heard  that  a  gentleman  and  his 
wife  were  going  out  in  the  ship,  and  be  gob  I  felt  sorry  for 
them. ' '  Good  old  MacFoy  !  He  is  continuously  solicitous 
for  our  welfare  ;  and  a  day  or  two  ago  he  came  aft  with  a 
copy  of  Dickens's  "Christmas  Stories"  which  he  had 
found  in  the  forecastle  library  furnished  by  the  Seamen's 
Friend  Society,  and  said  that  he  had  found  a  fine  sea  story 
for  me  to  read  in  the  book,  called  "The  Wreck  of  the 
Golden  Mary. "  It  is  a  fact  worthy  of  note  that  this  rough 
sailor-man  is  the  only  individual  whom  I  have  ever  met 
who  has  read  this  delightful  account  of  a  shipwreck  off 
Cape  Horn.  The  best-read  man  whom  I  ever  knew  said 
that  he  had  never  even  heard  of  it.  In  every  art,  though, 
there  seem  to  be  one  or  two  jewels  that  exist  unknown 
even  to  the  connoisseur.  How  many  musicians  are  there, 
thorough  musicians  though  they  may  be,  who  know  the 
gorgeous,  glorious  chorus  in  A,  andante  sostenuto,  from 
Schubert' s  Lazarus  ?  Gorgeous  in  its  tone  colors,  glorious 
in  its  fire  and  rhythm,  it  is  an  almost  unknown  fragment 
from  that  transcendent  mind.  Latitude,  27°  58'  north  ; 
longitude,  132°  20'  west. 

September  7 

Nothing  but  a  faint  breeze  remains  of  the  northeast 
Trades.  In  the  Pacific  at  this  season  they  are  generally  a 
failure,  and  they  carried  us  through  only  tw^elve  degrees  of 
latitude.  We  are  beginning  to  appreciate  how  hard  it  is 
going  to  be  to  get  into  the  land  in  the  latitude  of  San 
Francisco,  unless  we  soon  take  the  westerly  winds  that  are 

376 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

supposed  to  blow  out  here.  We  are  now  well  to  the  west- 
ward of  'Frisco,  ten  degrees  in  fact,  and  it  is  impossible  to 
calculate  how  much  farther  we  will  have  to  go  ;  old  Gog- 
gins,  a  year  ago,  bound  up  to  Nanaimo  from  Acapulco, 
fetched  over  to  i6o°  west  before  he  got  a  slant  north.  To- 
day is  a  great  deal  warmer  than  yesterday,  with  at  times  a 
nearly  glassy  sea  and  one  hundred  and  ten  miles  of  the 
two  degrees  of  latitude  that  we  made  were  done  in  the 
first  sixteen  hours. 

Last  evening  I  had  another  session  with  the  garrulous 
Scot.  "I'll  tell  ye  somethin'  about  the  '  H.  D.  Mac- 
Gregor'  ;  she's  the  toughest  ship  I  ever  was  in,  though 
there's  one  still  worse.  Cap'n  Summers  is  a  corker  ;  he's 
a  little  man,  but  very  broad  and  strong,  with  a  fearful 
temper  ;  he's  all  bruk  up,  though." 

"  What  broke  him  up?"   said  I. 

"Jumpin'  after  the  men,"  answered  David;  "he's 
hardly  got  a  sound  bone  in  his  body  ;  they  do  say  his 
back's  broke,  but  I  never  thought  it.  But  I  did  see  him 
smash  one  of  his  legs.  He  had  that  temper  that  if  he 
wanted  to  reach  a  man  he  just  jumped  down  on  top  of 
him  where  he  stood.  I  mind  one  afternoon,  just  before 
we  got  into  'Frisco  two  or  three  years  ago,  when  I  was 
bosun  with  him,  one  of  the  men  was  doin'  somethin'  aft 
on  the  main-deck.  Summers  said  a  few  words  to  him,  and 
the  feller  didn't  say  'yes,  sir,'  soon  enough  to  suit  him,  so 
th'  old  man  jumped  right  off  the  poop  down  on  the  main- 
deck,  full  eight  feet.  He  meant  to  lep  on  top  o'  the  sailor  ; 
but  just  as  he  jumped  the  ship  give  a  roll,  and  he  fell  into  a 
water-barrel  near  by.  His  left  leg  brought  up  sharp  ag'in' 
the  chimes  o'  the  cask,  and  crack  !  went  his  thigh-bone. 
Lucky  for  him  we  were  only  two  days  from  port,  and  we 
fixed  him  up  pretty  well  till  we  got  in. ' ' 

Yesterday    afternoon    the   top   of   the   deck-house   was 

377 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

painted  a  beautiful,  lustrous,  pearly  gray,  and  very  fine  it 
looked,  glistening  in  the  bright  sunshine.  Not  a  drop  of 
rain  had  fallen  all  day  until  fifteen  minutes  after  it  was 
finished,  when  a  light  shower  passed  over  us,  extending 
not  five  hundred  yards  in  any  direction.  It  lasted  not  one 
minute,  but  it  completely  ruined  the  wet  paint  ;  and  it  was 
then  that  we  heard  the  gentle  voice  of  the  mate  raised  in 
blasphemous  remonstrance.  Latitude,  29°  48'  north  ;  lon- 
gitude, 134°  6'  west. 

September  8 

Just  as  we  had  finished  writing  up  our  journals  yesterday 
afternoon  there  came  a  loud  patter  of  rain  overhead  and  a 
heavy  puf?  from  the  eastward  that  laid  the  ship  well  over. 
Still,  we  didn't  pay  much  attention  to  it  for  some  time  ;  but, 
finding  that  we  moved  steadily  along  without  righting,  I 
went  on  deck  to  find  the  ocean  covered  with  white-caps 
to  the  horizon,  which  was  thick  with  dense,  gray,  very 
windy-looking  clouds.  We  were  flying  through  the  water 
at  ten  knots,  and  heading  up  north  by  west  true,  which 
was  very  fine  ;  but,  even  as  we  looked,  there  came  a  slight 
but  portentous  heave  from  ahead  that  foretold  a  northerly 
swell.  And  so  it  proved,  for  by  8  p.m.  our  progress  had 
dwindled  to  six  knots,  as  we  went  pitching  and  diving  into 
an  ugly  head-sea.  It  is  astonishing  how  even  a  moderately 
heavy  swell  from  ahead  will  check  the  speed  of  a  ship, 
even  with  a  strong  wind  blowing.  A  steamer  will  cleave 
right  through  a  tall  swell  without  any  perceptible  difference 
in  her  speed,  a  fact  proved  to  us  once  when,  in  crossing  the 
Atlantic  in  the  "  Etruria,"  we  encountered  a  head-sea  that 
buried  the  entire  bows  at  every  plunge  ;  yet  the  speed  was 
lowered  by  only  a  quarter  of  a  knot.  Even  a  sailing  yacht 
will  overcome  a  head-swell  in  a  very  creditable  manner  ; 
but  when  a  massive,  clumsy  square-rigger  runs  into  one, 

378 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE    HORN 

farewell  to  even  a  moderate  run.  She  stops  at  ev^ery  sea 
for  an  appreciable  time,  till  the  impetus  of  so  ponderous  a 
mass  asserts  itself  and  she  tumbles  into  the  next  valley. 
So  it  was  with  us  all  through  the  night,  though  we  made 
good  a  fine  course  north-northwest. 

A  fact  little  known  generally  is  that  in  former  years 
there  existed  in  our  ships  what  was  known  as  a  hospital 
tax.  It  was  finally  abandoned,  not  more  than  fifteen  years 
ago,  and  consisted  in  each  man's  paying  forty  cents  a 
month  as  long  as  he  was  on  board  a  given  vessel  toward  a 
common  fund,  the  total  sum  being  handed  to  the  proper 
persons  on  the  ship's  arrival  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
marine  hospital  at  the  port  to  which  she  was  bound,  pro- 
vided that  such  a  port  was  of  sufficient  importance  to  war- 
rant an  institution  of  this  sort.  I  think  this  was  a  pretty 
good  idea,  and  cannot  think  why  it  was  abolished.  On  a 
ship  like  this  one,  for  instance,  the  amount  at  the  end  of  a 
four-months'  voyage  would  be  nearly  forty  dollars.  Yet  no 
one  on  board  would  feel  the  loss  of  the  dollar  and  a  half 
that  he  had  contributed.  Latitude,  32°  7'  north  ;  longi- 
tude, 135°  6'  west. 

September  9 

Yesterday  afternoon  a  sail  was  sighted  from  the  fore-sky- 
sail-yard,  and  at  once  threw  everybody  into  tumult  of  ex- 
citement. Truly,  a  long  time  had  passed  since  we  had 
beheld  a  vessel  of  any  sort,  for  the  last  time  that  we  saw 
anything  fashioned  by  man's  hand  was  seven  weeks  ago, 
off  the  Horn.  We  beat  this  record  on  our  first  voyage, 
however,  when  sixty-five  days  passed  without  our  sighting 
a  vessel.  The  ship  "I.  F.  Chapman,"  however,  arrived  at 
New  York  from  Manila  shortly  before  we  sailed,  having  been 
at  sea  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  days,  and  during  all  that 
time  not  a  single  craft  of  any  description  sailed  into  her  ken  I 

379 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

At  five  o'  clock  the  upper  sails  of  our  new  friend  were  in 
sight  from  the  deck,  and  I  walked  to  the  break  of  the  poop, 
where  the  mate  was,  to  ask  his  opinion  of  her.  He  was 
extremely  pompous,  and  talked  with  such  assurance  that 
you  would  suppose  he  had  just  come  off  the  stranger.  She 
had  not  risen  to  her  upper  topsails  when  Mr.  Goggins  said, 
'  *  Ho  !  I  know  '  er  ;  she' s  a  barkentine  that  trades  between 
San  Francisco  and  the  Hawaiian  Islands!"  (I  have  never 
met  a  captain  or  mate  who  said  Sandwich  Islands. )  This 
was  to  exhibit  his  infinite  knowledge  of  the  Pacific  coast. 
Now,  when  hull  down,  I  make  it  a  rule  never  to  contradict 
a  sailor  when  he  gives  an  opinion  as  to  how  a  square-rigger 
is  sailing,  whether  on  or  off  the  wind,  or  what  her  precise 
rig  is  ;  few  objects  are  more  puzzling,  even  to  an  expe- 
rienced eye.  But  on  this  occasion  I  had  a  pair  of  very 
excellent  glasses  on  the  vessel,  and  suggested  that  she  was 
either  a  bark  or  a  ship  steering  by  the  wind.  * '  Naw,  naw, ' ' 
shouted  the  mate,  with  a  backward  sweep  of  his  arm  ; 
"she's  a  barkentine,  a-runnin'  free."  An  hour  later  it 
proved  to  be  a  British  ship  close-hauled  on  the  port  tack, 
standing  to  the  eastward.  The  mate  was  overwhelmed 
with  chagrin,  but  his  cup  of  misery  was  not  yet  full,  for 
when  the  old  man  went  on  deck  last  night  at  ten,  the  moon 
being  very  bright,  he  asked  him  whether  the  ship  was  still 
in  sight,  to  which  the  mate  answered,  "She's  not,  sir." 
"Then  what's  that?"  asked  the  skipper,  pointing  under 
the  spanker.  There,  on  the  quarter,  dim,  but  in  plain 
view,  was  the  handsome  stranger,  and  she  had  gone  around 
on  our  tack. 

Last  evening  we  witnessed  a  sunset  that  was  the  most 
impressive  of  the  whole  voyage.  An  hour  before  the  sun 
disappeared  we  noticed  great  cumulo-nimbus  clouds  mar- 
shalling themselves  in  the  west,  the  horizon  then  being 
veiled  in  a  curious,  diaphanous  mist.     When  we  came  up 

380 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

from  supper,  though,  the  sun  had  nearly  reached  the  sea- 
rim,  and  for  ten  minutes  we  were  the  enchanted  spectators 
of  most  exquisite  cloud  scenery.  High  up  toward  the  zenith 
two  ranges  of  heavy,  gloomy  cloud  mountains  were  reared, 
peak  on  peak,  forming  in  themselves  a  scene  of  remarkable 
grandeur,  and  right  between  these  purple  ramparts,  and 
just  then  touching  the  horizon,  lay  the  great,  blazing  globe 
of  fire,  edging  the  immense  vapory  masses  with  a  fringe  as 
of  living  flame  and  transmuting  the  clouds  into  glowing 
pictures  of  the  Delectable  Mountains,  more  beautiful  than 
artist  ever  conceived,  with  a  suggestion  of  the  Celestial 
City  itself  in  the  surpassing  glory  of  the  moment.  As 
Handel  said  when  composing  the  * '  Messiah, "  "I  did  think 
that  I  did  see  all  heaven  before  me,  and  the  great  God  Him- 
self." The  entire  spectacle  was  visible  through  the  thin 
mist,  now  changed  into  a  veil  of  radiant  bronze,  putting  a 
finishing  touch  upon  a  scene  which,  for  magnificence  of  col- 
oring and  stately  splendor,  we  have  never  seen  equalled. 

No  sooner  had  the  orb  of  day  vanished  than  out  soared 
the  moon  from  behind  a  sable  cloud  and  a  night  of  ineffable 
peace  and  purity  followed,  with  now  and  then  a  weird  effect 
produced  by  a  guny  floating  slowly  across  the  moon's  face, 
with  the  appearance  of  a  gigantic,  prehistoric  bat.  Oh,  how 
superb  Nature  is  when  viewed  thus  from  the  deck  of  a  sailing 
ship  !  How  can  a  man  deny  God  at  such  moments  as  these  ? 
How  can  he  say  that  he  is  lonely  when  he  is  surrounded  by 
such  wonderful  memorials  of  His  earthly  magnificence? 
Latitude,  34°  5'  north  ;  longitude,  137°  14'  west. 

September  10 

We  can  stand  but  very  little  more  of  this  northerly  wind, 
for  we  are  getting  very  anxious  to  go  on  the  other  tack. 
Last  night  and  this  morning  the  wind  was  very  unsteady, 
and  we  alternately  broke  off  to  west- northwest  and  came  up 

381 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

to  northwest  by  north.  It  would  be  useless  to  tack  ship  as? 
long  as  we  can  hold  as  good  a  course  as  the  former,  for  we 
would  have  to  make  a  little  southing  on  the  other  leg.  By 
to-morrow  we  will  probably  be  in  the  latitude  of  our  destina- 
tion, though  a  thousand  miles  west  of  it,  and  the  skipper 
intimates  that  he  will  then  let  her  come  round  whether 
or  no. 

This  morning,  it  being  the  first  occasion  for  a  long  while, 
we  had  a  brace  of  fresh  eggs  for  breakfast,  which  when 
poached  were  so  indescribably  delicious  that  the  memory 
of  them  lingered  long  and  sweetly  in  the  palate.  It  is  only 
about  once  in  three  weeks  that  our  barren,  emaciated  hens 
honor  us  in  this  fashion,  and  when  they  do,  our  gratitude 
is  boundless.  Ordinarily,  my  wife's  breakfast  consists  of 
fresh,  crisp  soda  biscuit,  a  boiled  potato,  and  a  cup  of  cocoa  ; 
my  own  comprising  soda  biscuit,  potatoes,  jam,  and  tepid 
water.  It  is  a  matter  of  surprise  to  every  one  who  has  ex- 
perienced a  lack  of  ice  how  readily  one  becomes  accus- 
tomed to  being  without  it  ;  by  the  seventh  or  eighth  day 
the  desire  for  iced  water  has  passed  entirely  away  and 
doesn't  return  except  in  case  of  illness.  People  generally 
regard  a  man  who  refuses  any  of  the  customary  matutinal 
beverages  with  the  most  extreme  astonishment  ;  when  he 
declines  coffee,  they  open  their  eyes  ;  when  he  refuses  tea, 
they  begin  to  murmur  ;  and  when  he  also  denies  cocoa, 
they  drop  everything  and  look  intently  at  him,  as  though 
they  expected  to  discover  some  visible  proof  of  his  absti- 
nence. ' '  Why,  but  your  health, ' '  these  people  cry  ;  '  *  every 
one  needs  something  hot  in  the  morning."  This  is  quite 
false,  even  in  winter  weather,  as  anyone  can  prove  to  one's 
own  satisfaction  by  shunning  so  strong  a  stimulant  as  coffee 
for  a  fortnight  and  taking  only  water  at  breakfast  ;  nearly 
everybody  would  feel  great  benefit  from  such  a  course  in  less 
than  a  week. 

382 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

One  would  think  that  long-voyage  ship-masters  would 
grow  to  detest  salt  and  dried  meats  and  tinned  vegetables, 
but  they  do  not  ;  and  Captain  Scruggs  affirms  that  after 
one  or  two  good  "  feeds"  of  fresh  meat  ashore  after  every 
voyage  he  wants  to  return  to  his  salt  beef  ;  and  I  have  yet 
to  see  the  captain  or  mate  who  preferred  the  finest  pressed 
tongue  and  canned  corned  beef  to  ordinary  salt  junk  ;  they 
cling  to  it  with  a  truly  wonderful  pertinacity. 

The  captain  detailed  to  us  last  evening  the  ingenious 
method  of  loading  coal  at  Newcastle,  Australia.  A  ship 
there  hauls  in  close  to  the  pier,  along  the  edge  of  which 
extends  a  railway  track.  A  train  of  coal-cars  is  then 
backed  down  on  the  wharf,  each  car  holding  five  tons. 
They  are  then  uncoupled,  a  hydraulic  crane  lifts  each  one 
silently  from  the  track,  swings  it  over  a  given  hatch,  the 
bottom  drops  automatically,  precipitating  the  coal  into  the 
hold,  and  the  car  is  then  swung  back  again  and  placed  on 
the  rails,  and  another  takes  its  place.  The  same  method  is 
now  or  was  once  employed  at  Newport,  Wales. 

In  the  United  States  chutes  are  in  general  favor  for  load- 
ing colliers,  especially  in  the  coastwise  trade,  which  is  con- 
ducted by  means  of  fore-and-aft  schooners,  some  of  which 
are  as  large  as  many  ships.  The  ' '  W.  B.  Palmer, ' '  for 
instance,  registers  about  two  thousand  tons,  with  a  carrying 
capacity  of  thirty-five  hundred,  equal  to  that  of  the  "  Hosea 
Higgins,"  while  several  range  well  over  fifteen  hundred 
registered  tons.  In  spite  of  the  encroachments  of  steam, 
these  mammoth  schooners  seem  to  more  than  hold  their 
own,  as  the  fleet  is  constantly  being  increased.  Ten  years 
ago  a  vessel  like  the  "  Governor  Ames,"  or  any  of  the  Ran- 
dalls, paid  from  twenty  to  twenty-live  per  cent. ,  though  the 
profits  are  now  probably  somewhat  reduced.  The  * '  Ames' ' 
has  loaded  twenty-five  hundred  tons  of  coal  at  Norfolk  in 
nine  hours,  which  is  the  best  work  on  record,  as  this  in- 

383 


BY   WAY  OF   CAPE   HORN 

eluded  trimming,  and  everything  else,  all  ready  for  sea. 
This  phenomenal  speed  was  attained  by  simultaneously 
working  the  four  hatches,  rivers  of  coal  continuously  sliding 
into  the  hold  through  the  chutes.  At  Aden  and  Port  Said 
the  steamers  are  coaled  entirely  by  hand  in  quite  an  inter- 
esting manner  :  A  lighter  of  coal  is  secured  alongside  a 
steamer,  aboard  of  which  is  a  swarm  of  black  men,  mostly 
Kroumen,  each  with  a  shallow,  wicker  basket  as  large  as  a 
dish-pan.  As  soon  as  the  lighter  is  made  fast  two  cargo 
ports  are  opened  in  the  steamer's  hull,  one  forward  and  one 
abaft  the  bunkers.  The  men  then  fill  their  baskets,  which 
they  carry  upon  their  heads,  and  march  in  single  file  through 
the  forward  port,  empty  their  baskets  as  they  pass  the 
bunkers  without  pausing,  and  issue  from  the  after-opening 
into  the  lighter,  where  a  freshly-filled  basket  awaits  each. 
So  great  is  the  number  of  men  that  a  solid  black  stream 
passes  through  the  steamer  ;  and  though  each  basket  holds 
but  twenty  pounds  of  coal,  it  is  loaded  into  the  bunk- 
ers at  the  rate  of  one  hundred  tons  per  hour.  On  our 
return  from  India  in  a  P.  and  O.  steamer  through  the  Red 
Sea  we  coaled  thus  at  Aden,  by  electric  light  ;  the  weather 
was  drizzly  (itself  a  curiosity),  and  when  the  moisture 
condensed  on  the  naked,  sooty  backs  of  the  Kroumen, 
they  appeared  as  though  clad  in  a  mail  of  sparkling  jet  ; 
and  as  they  maintained  a  dismal  chant  throughout  the 
process,  the  whole  scene  resembled  a  picture  from  the  land 
of  gnomes  and  pixies.  Latitude,  35°  50'  north  ;  longitude, 
139°  20'  west. 

September  ii 

The  winter  of  our  discontent  is  now  at  its  height.  Vainly 
do  we  endeavor  to  make  easting  ;  we  cannot,  for  the  wind 
for  a  long  time  has  been  at  northeast  instead  of  between 
north  and  west,  as  it  should  be.     At  four  this  morning,  ex- 

384 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

asperated  beyond  endurance,  I  heard  the  skipper  growl  to 
the  mate,  "  We'll  let  her  go  round,  anyway  ;  maybe  we'll 
fetch  Cape  San  Lucas. ' '  We  did  make  good  an  easterly 
course  for  a  while,  but  at  five  we  broke  of!  to  east-southeast, 
which,  with  the  variation,  was  southeast  three-quarters 
east,  a  preposterous  course  ;  so  we  went  around  again  at 
eight,  and  are  still  pegging  away  on  the  starboard  tack, 
making  good  north  by  west,  and  only  twenty  miles  south 
of  'Frisco. 

Every  opportunity  the  daur  Scot  has  for  conversation 
now  he  embraces.  At  seven  last  evening,  sitting  on  the 
main-hatch,  he  said,  "I'll  bet  you  never  heard  what  '  Long 
John'  (Pettersen)  said  to  the  mate  one  night  of!  Cape  Horn  ; 
'twas  that  night  when  we  had  the  worst  snow-squalls.  I 
dunno  what  the  row  was  about,  but  Mr.  Goggins  called 
John  up  on  the  poop  and  began  to  blackguard  him  ;  then 
he  let  him  have  it  once  or  twice  in  the  face  about  as  hard 
as  I  ever  saw,  and  was  just  goin'  to  kick  him  down  the 
poop-ladder,  when  down  jumps  Long  John  on  the  main- 
deck,  turns  around  and  yells,  *  You  come  down  here  and 

I'll  break  yer neck  !'  and  he'd  'a  done  it,  too. 

What  did  Mr.  Goggins  do  ?  Walked  aft  and  looked  into 
the  binnacle.  'That  settles  you  in  my  mind,  me  buck,' 
says  I  to  meself.  I  don't  believe  he  had  a  right  to  hit 
John,  for,  if  I  do  say  so,  he's  the  willingest  sailor  I  ever 
had  to  do  with  ;  but  when  John  dared  him  to  come  down 

of!  the  poop Well,  that's  the  sort  o'  stuf!  the  mate's 

made  of ;  he  hasn't  got  the  sand  of  a  worm.  But  look, 
sir,  I  want  to  tell  ye  somethin'  more  about  the  Australian 
packets.  The  best  and  finest  voyage  I  ever  had  in  all  me 
life  was  in  one  o'  those  ships,  the  *  Loch  Rannoch.'  "  (I 
love  to  hear  MacFoy  roll  out  his  sonorous  Scottish  names. ) 
' '  We  had  a  hundred  and  eighteen  passengers,  most  o* 
them,  of  course,  in  the  'tween-decks,  which  was  fitted  up 
25  3SS 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

wi'  bunks  for  '  em.  Oh  !  but  we  had  the  fun  that  passage; 
though  the  rules  are  strict,  just  Hke  in  the  navy,  and  well 
they  need  be.  The  emigrants  can't  go  either  forrad  or 
aft  o'  certain  limits,  all  lights  are  out  at  eight  in  the  evenin' , 
no  smokin'  after  that  hour,  and  in  heavy  weather  none  o' 
therr*  are  allowed  on  deck.  In  the  Southern  Ocean,  run- 
nin'  our  eastin'  down,  the  hatches  were  battened  for  two 
weeks,  and  all  the  air  the  people  got  was  thro'  the  ventila- 
tors. When  such  emigrants  get  to  Melbourne  they  have 
to  report  at  Government  House,  and  things  are  fixed  so 
they  can  pay  their  passage-money  in  instalments.  The 
men  are  generally  a  pretty  decent,  well-conducted  lot ;  but 
the  women, — oh.  Lord  !  the  women  !  Some  o'  them's  ama- 
zons,  and  that's  a  fact.  I  remember  one  that  we  had  on 
board  had  the  whole  ship  in  a  hurrah  till  one  day  Cap'n 
Skene  ordered  her  aft  to  talk  to  her.  I  mind  the  time 
well :  the  cap'n,  a  fat,  short,  little  man  in  blue  and  brass 
buttons  wi'  podges  on  his  shoulders,  as  vain  as  a  turkey, 
but  a  good  seaman,  was  talkin'  to  a  couple  o'  first-class 
passengers  when  this  lassie  was  led  aft,  and  he  turned  with 
a  frown  to  size  her  up  like.  'Well,  mutton-face,  who' re 
ye  lookin'  at  ?'  says  she  ;  and  then,  without  givin'  him 
time  for  a  word,  she  bawled  at  him,  '  D'ye  know  what  I 
think  o'  you?  You're  no  more  good  than  a  hoot  down  a 
dumb-waiter  shaft.'  She  said  she  was  no  bloomin'  sailor, 
and  she'  d  have  the  run  o'  the  ship  if  she  liked  ;  and,  will 
you  believe  it,  they  had  to  put  the  irons  on  her,  she  got 
that  bad.  We  used  to  have  great  singin'  in  the  dog- 
watches. Man,  'twould  ha'  done  yer  heart  good  to  see 
us  sailors  a-sittin'  on  the  forecastle-head,  thirty  of  us,  and 
pretty  soon  we'd  start  a  chanty  and  keep  it  up  for  ten 
minutes  ;  and  no  sooner  would  we  stop  than  a  score  of 
emigrants  amidships  would  take  it  up,  the  women's  and 
men's  voices  soundin'  fine  together,  till  it  was  most  as 

386 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

good  as  a  concert.  You'd  better  believe  it,  though,  that 
it  takes  strict  discipline  to  keep  a  hundred  and  fifty  people 
in  order  for  three  months." 

'*See  here,  MacFoy,"  said  I,  when  he  had  finished. 
*  *  I  want  you  to  answer  me  a  straight  question  ;  is  this  a 
hard  ship  on  the  men?" 

"  Why,  no,  of  course  it's  not,"  he  answered. 

"Well,  Mr.  Rarx  told  me  that  once,  but  I  didn't  know 
whether  to  believe  him  or  not,"  said  I. 

"I  can  just  tell  you,  she's  the  quietest  Yankee  ship  7 
ever  sailed  in,"  observed  David;  **why,  there's  been  no 
blood  flyin'  at  all  to  amount  to  much.  The  men  can't 
make  it  out  ;  there  hasn't  one  o'  them  been  clouted  now 
goin'  on  three  weeks.  But  I  can  tell  you  why  it  is  ;  it's 
all  on  account  o'  you  and  your  wife.  The  old  man  won't 
let  out  before  ye,  but  I've  often  seen  him  hold  on  tight  to 
himself  and  just  swear  instead  o'  knockin'  the  feller  end- 
wise. Yes,  Mr.  Rarx  was  right  when  he  told  ye  this  was 
an  easy  ship."  Latitude,  37°  18'  north;  longitude,  139° 
50'  west. 

September  12 

Hurrah  for  California  !  Hurrah  for  the  north  wind  ! 
Our  bowsprit  is  at  last  pointing  towards  the  brown  crags  of 
the  Golden  Gate.  At  the  change  of  the  watch  at  mid- 
night we  heard  the  captain  sing  out,  ' '  All  hands  on  deck  ; 
tack  ship. ' '  A  few  moments  later  came  ' '  Put  your  helium 
down"  ;  and  a  moment  afterward  he  called  out  *'  Helium's 
a-lee' ' ;  yet  another  minute  or  two  and  ' '  Maintop-sail 
haul"  split  the  air.  A  dead  silence  followed  as  the  men 
cast  of?  the  braces,  and  then  the  heavy  yards  clattered 
noisily  around,  followed  by  the  agreeable  sound  of  ropes 
running  over  patent  sheaves  (always  pronounced  shivs)  ; 
and  finally,  *  *  Let  go  and  haul' '  went  ringing  forward,  the 

387 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

head-yards  swung  round,  and  in  ten  minutes  more  the  ship 
was  braced  up  on  the  port  tack,  heading  somewhat  to  the 
northward  of  east.  All  continued  to  go  well,  and  we  are 
now  doing  seven  knots. 

At  10.30  this  A.M.,  as  we  were  w^atching  the  mate  reeve 
a  new  log-line  on  the  "cherub,"  I  heard  Kelly  at  the 
wheel  say  "  Sst,  sst,"'  and  looking  where  he  pointed,  lo  ! 
a  sail  appeared  well  above  the  horizon  on  the  lee  bow. 
The  glasses  resolved  her  into  a  three-masted  fore-and-aft 
schooner  on  the  starboard  tack  ;  and  we  presently  per- 
ceived that  she  was  rigged  with  pole-masts  and  a  spike 
bowsprit,  being  the  first  vessel  of  the  sort  I  ever  saw.  It 
makes  a  very  serviceable  rig,  not  so  picturesque  as  fidded 
topmasts  and  slender  jib-boom,  but  powerful  and  able  look- 
ing, which  count  for  more  in  a  seaman's  eye  than  aesthetic 
beauty. 

Before  long  it  became  apparent  that  if  neither  of  us 
shifted  the  helm  there  would  be  a  collision  ;  and  as  we 
were  on  the  port  tack,  we  should  be  the  one  to  alter  our 
course  ;  but  then  the  other  vessel  was  only  a  schooner,  so 
this  would  never  enter  the  mind  of  a  square-rigger  skipper. 
Sure  enough,  although  the  other  had  the  right  of  way,  she 
shifted  her  wheel  and  we  passed  across  her  bows,  not  more 
than  a  cable's  length  away.  She  was  the  "Sequoia,"  of 
San  Francisco,  three  hundred  and  twenty-five  tons,  and 
was  probably  bound  up  to  Puget  Sound  from  a  southern 
Californian  port.  Observe  how  hard  it  is  to  make  north- 
ing as  well  as  easting  here  at  this  season,  when  vessels  are 
obliged  to  stand  off  shore  twenty  degrees  in  order  to  reach 
up,  and  the  "  Sequoia"  hadn't  tacked  ship  yet  to  fetch  in. 
I  never  before  saw  a  fore-and-aft  schooner  a  thousand  miles 
of?  shore,  though  there  are  small  two-masters  that  trade 
between  Newfoundland  and  Spain,  and  between  Boston 
and  the  Bight  of  Benin. 

38S 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

As  we  passed  the  "Sequoia,"  all  hands  aboard  of  her 
crowded  to  the  side  to  see.  us  ;  and  we  probably  made  a 
splendid  picture  as  we  swept  by,  only  two  or  three  hundred 
yards  away,  under  all  possible  canvas.  The  captain  and 
mate  declared  that  her  name  was  pronounced  "  Sequina"  ; 
ship-masters  often  ha\e  the  most  remarkable  pronunciations 
even  for  well-known  ports  and  landmarks,  and  they  cling 
to  them  with  dogged  tenacity. 

Last  night  we  had  another  new  dish  for  supper, — cream 
toast.  This  sounds  odd,  I  expect,  but  it  was  simply  deli- 
cious ;  it  is  true  that,  as  in  the  case  of  the  rarebits  the  other 
evening,  the  bread  was  not  all  that  could  be  desired  ;  but 
by  using  unsweetened  condensed  Swiss  cream,  thinned  a 
little  with  water,  it  proved  to  be  a  most  savory  dish,  though 
an  expensive  one  for  the  ship,  as  an  entire  can  has  to  be 
used  each  time.  In  truth,  if  made  thus,  it  tastes  far  better 
than  if  fresh  milk  is  used,  as  the  great  fault  with  ordinary 
milk  toast  lies  in  its  flatness  and  insipidity  ;  but  the  Swiss 
cream,  being  very  rich  and  perfectly  pure,  is  eminently 
adapted  to  this  purpose.  It  sticks  in  my  mind  that  this 
ought  to  be  a  hint  for  housewives. 

Already  we  have  begun  to  estimate  precisely  when  we 
will  reach  port  ;  if  we  do  it  in  six  days,  or  by  next  Satur- 
day, it  will  mean  only  a  hundred  and  fifty  miles  a  day,  or 
six  and  a  half  per  hour,  which  we  should  do  without  trouble 
if  we  do  not  fall  to  leeward  of  the  Farallones. 

Mr.  Rarx  is  still  very  feeble,  and  will  evidently  have  to 
be  carried  ashore.  Latitude,  38°  10'  north  ;  longitude, 
139°  10'  west. 

September  13 

A  magnificent  day,  though  not  quite  so  much  wind  as 
we  would  like  to  have.  Up  to  ten  this  morning  we  did 
passably  well,  but  since  then  it  has  been  pretty  light,  though 

389 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

there  is  a  bank  of  wool-packs  rising  in  the  west,  foretelhng 
more  wind  from  that  desirable  quarter.  We  made  three 
degrees  of  departure,  and  to  our  chagrin,  not  to  say  con- 
sternation, fifty-eight  miles  of  southing  ;  this  latter  must  be 
due,  we  think,  to  an  error  in  our  previous  dead  reckoning, 
as  we  hadn't  had  the  sun  for  two  days,  and  the  currents 
here  are  often  strong.  A  line  drawn  from  yesterday's  al- 
leged noon  position  to  that  of  to-day  passes  directly  over 
the  reputed  Reed  Rocks  ;  but  as  we  are  by  no  means  sure 
of  yesterday's  work,  we  cannot  on  that  account  positively 
deny  their  existence.  They  were  first  reported  about  fifty 
years  ago  by  one  Reed,  an  American  mariner  ;  but  as  the 
British  admiralty  charts  do  not  acknowledge  the  presence 
of  the  rocks,  and  as  our  own  charts  have  D  marked  beneath 
them,  meaning  doubtful,  it  is  probable  that,  if  they  ever  did 
exist,  they  have  now  disappeared. 

It  is  worthy  of  mention  that  the  total  cost  of  running  and 
maintaining  a  ship  like  the  ' '  Hosea  Higgins' '  for  one  year 
amounts  to  an  average  of  twenty-five  thousand  dollars.  In 
New  York  alone  the  bills  that  Captain  Scruggs  had  to  pay 
before  we  went  to  sea  amounted  to  almost  fifteen  thousand 
dollars,  though  this  was  a  somewhat  excessive  amount, 
owing  to  the  putting  in  of  a  new  bowsprit  and  fore  lower 
mast,  which,  with  the  rigger's  bill,  footed  up  a  total  of  two 
thousand  dollars.  Here  is  a  list  of  the  accounts  rendered  : 
Riggers,  stores,  stevedore,  foremast,  blacksmith,  wharfage, 
advance  to  men,  ship-chandler,  sail-maker,  tow-boat,  pilot, 
shipwright,  tonnage  dues,  butcher  (fresh  meat). 

In  San  Francisco  there  will  be  an  equally  heavy  account, 
as  a  new  mizzen  lower  mast  will  be  shipped  there  ;  and 
when  the  '  *  Higgins' '  arrives  back  at  New  York  she  will 
have  to  be  thoroughly  overhauled  and  repaired,  being  of 
the  age  of  fifteen  years.  Wooden  vessels  are  classed  A  i 
for  that  period  and  no  longer  without  a  complete  renova- 

390 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

tion,  and  she  is  then  reclassed  ;  iron  vessels  are  rated  A  i 
for  a  much  longer  period.  The  list  of  firms  above  enumer- 
ated would  not  be  complete,  however,  without  mentioning 
the  cooper's  bill.  This  is  sometimes  quite  large  for  repairs 
made  to  cases,  barrels,  etc.,  on  account  of  damage  sustained 
while  loading,  at  sea,  or  discharging.  Goods  must  always 
be  delivered  in  first-rate  condition.  Yet,  in  spite  of  the 
heavy  running  expenses,  this  ship  averages  fifteen  and 
sixteen  per  cent,  profit ;  and  there  is  one  very  large  iron 
four-masted  ship,  belonging  to  the  keenest  ship-owner  in 
New  York,  which  regularly  pays  a  twenty  per  cent,  annual 
dividend.  Nearly  all  American  sailing  ships  pay  well  ;  but 
the  greatest  profits  that  I  know  of  in  late  years  have  been 
made  by  a  British  eleven-knot  tramp  steamer,  whose  name 
I  cannot  remember.  This  vessel  for  the  last  four  years  has 
paid  the  owners  an  average  annual  profit  of  thirty-four  per 
cent.  Much  of  this  is,  of  course,  due  to  the  vessel's  hap- 
pening to  strike  the  various  markets  at  exactly  the  right 
time,  though  there  must  be  a  good,  sharp  business  head  to 
the  concern  to  achieve  such  an  astonishing  result.  It  is 
said,  however,  that  the  majority  of  British  sailing  ships  are 
not  good  money-makers.  Latitude,  37°  12'  north  ;  longi- 
tude, 136°  15'  west. 

September  14 

A  magnificent  breeze  that  has  driven  us  along  at  nearly 
nine  knots  has  blown  steadily  from  the  north-northeast 
for  twenty-four  hours,  giving  us  an  easterly  course  by 
compass.  But,  alas  !  the  point  and  a  half  of  variation 
and  another  half-point  of  leeway  force  us  to  steer  about 
east- southeast  true.  We  made  a  whole  degree  of  south- 
ing in  consequence,  and  are  now  ninety  miles  south  of 
'Frisco  Heads.  If  we  have  to  tack  ship  it  will  be  a 
piece  of  outrageous  luck  ;  and  if  the  ship  doesn't  come  up 

391 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

three  points  by  noon  to-morrow,  that's  just  what  we  will 
have  to  do. 

Last  Sunday,  as  I  was  talking  to  some  of  the  men  for- 
ward, Broadhead  spoke  of  the  Yellowstone  Park,  and  he 
chanced  to  mention  that  a  friend  of  his  had  spent  his  honey- 
moon in  that  delectable  locality,  adding  that,  of  course, 
everything  looked  particularly  rosy  even  for  the  Yellowstone. 
Conversation  then  changed,  when  all  at  once  I  found  the 
eyes  of  Jimmie  Rumps  fixed  upon  me,  and  a  moment  later 
he  said,  wistfully  and  earnestly,  '*  I  should  think  it  must  be 
just  grand  to  go  on  a  honeymoon."  Rumps,  it  might  be 
added,  would  make  an  excellent  cabin-boy  on  a  yacht  ;  but 
as  bosun  of  a  large  ship,  it  would  be  difficult  to  find  one 
more  thoroughly  incompetent  than  he  is.  There  are  at 
least  a  dozen  of  the  men  before  the  mast  who  are  far  better 
sailors  than  he,  and  seamanship  is  a  sine  qua  7wn  in  a  bosun 
as  well  as  in  a  second  mate. 

Another  speech  of  one  of  the  men  afforded  us  a  little 
amusement  this  forenoon.  As  my  wife  stepped  to  the 
binnacle  to  learn  the  course,  the  old  man  having  just  gone 
below  with  his  sextant,  Paddy,  the  merry,  humorous  young 
Irishman,  was  steering  ;  but  instead  of  his  usual  jolly  smile, 
his  face  indicated  the  most  extreme  dejection.  So,  to  cheer 
him  up,  my  wife  nodded  to  him  and  remarked,  "We'll 
soon  be  in,  Paddy."  "Yes,  mum,  I  know,"  he  replied, 
*'  but  I  got  gum-boils  now"  ;  to  show  that  variety  had  been 
vouchsafed  him  in  his  afflictions,  as  he  has  only  just  recov- 
ered from  the  worst  sea-boils  in  the  ship. 

It  may  not  be  very  widely  known  that  in  the  United 
States  there  are  several  competent  women  ship-mistresses, 
as  I  suppose  they  ought  to  be  called.  I  don' t  mean  women 
who  understand  more  or  less  about  the  handling  of  vessels, 
but  those  who  are  entirely  capable  and  have  received  their 
certificates  for  steamers  from  the  government.     The  first 

392 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE    HORN 

woman  to  pass  the  examination  in  this  country  was  a  Mrs. 
George  Miller,  of  New  Orleans,  and  it  was  the  late  Justice 
Folger,  at  the  time  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  who,  after 
mature  deliberation,  decided  that  a  woman  could  legally,  if 
she  passed  the  severe  examination  necessary  to  command 
a  steam-vessel,  assume  the  responsible  position  of  captain. 
Since  then  several  women  In  the  United  States  have  ob- 
tained master's  licenses  and  have  demonstrated  their  ability 
to  handle  steamers  ;  but  the  woman-captain  of  a  square- 
rigger  has  not  yet  appeared  on  the  horizon,  though  many 
long-voyage  captains'  wives  are  almost,  if  not  quite,  as 
capable  navigators  and  seamen  as  their  husbands. 

The  British  Board  of  Trade,  however,  has  positively  re- 
fused to  allow  a  member  of  the  gentler  sex  to  appear  before 
it  for  examination.  A  test  case  recently  came  up  when  the 
daughter  of  an  English  marquess  applied  to  that  institution 
for  master's  papers.  This  lady  pointed  out  that  she  simply 
desired  to  command  her  own  yacht,  which  she  was  quite 
capable  of  doing,  and  did  not  wish  to  have  anything  to  do 
with  any  other  vessel  ;  but  the  Board  of  Trade's  answer  to 
her  application  was  that  it  would  not  permit  a  woman  to  be 
examined  for  a  master's  certificate,  as  the  word  master  im- 
plicitly specified  that  men  alone  were  eligible.  Shortly 
afterw^ard  the  marquess's  daughter  married  an  Irish  mer- 
chant captain,  and  at  the  present  time  is  no  doubt  ably  As- 
sisting her  husband  in  the  navigation  of  the  splendid  ship 
which  he  has  the  good  fortune  to  command.  Latitude, 
36°  21'  north  ;  longitude,  132°  30'  west. 

September  15 

This  is  the  second  of  my  wife's  birthdays  that  we  have 
passed  at  sea,  as  three  years  ago  we  celebrated  one  in  the 
'*  Mandalore"  in  37°  south,  16°  east  ;  and  to  commemorate 
this  occasion  we  have  had  very  strong  northerly  winds,  with 

393 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

heavy  puffs,  a  clear  sky,  and  a  rough  but  magnificent  sea, 
with  the  ship  bounding  through  it  under  the  maintop-gal- 
lant-sail, bursting  the  spray  high  up  to  windward  in  drench- 
ing showers  as  she  shoulders  her  way  through  the  great 
creaming  billows.  How  superb  and  proud  they  look,  their 
snow-white,  downy  crests  standing  pompously  forth  against 
the  azure  sky,  with  intervening  valleys  of  that  wonderful 
blue  which  imparts  such  a  fascination  to  the  scene  !  We 
love  nothing  better  than  to  pick  out  a  particularly  tall  sea 
when  it  is  still  a  quarter  of  a  mile  away  on  the  bow.  On 
it  comes,  as  resistless  as  time  ;  now  hidden  as  the  ship 
drops  into  a  hollow,  now  soaring  above  its  fellows  as  some 
grand,  snowy  peak  towers  over  its  pine- clad  neighbors. 
Nearer  and  yet  nearer  it  approaches,  challenging  combat  as 
it  comes,  the  vessel  half  advancing  to  meet  it.  And  now  it 
is  right  alongside,  and  hangs  menacingly  thirty  feet  above 
the  ship,  and  the  spray  scattered  from  its  glistening  sum- 
mit flies  overhead  in  a  swirling  cloud,  and  a  rainbow  spans 
for  an  instant  the  streaming  decks.  It  seems  impossible 
that  the  vessel  can  clear  the  swift  rush  of  the  great  billow  ; 
but  just  as  it  gathers  itself  for  the  assault  the  ship,  with  a 
heavy  lurch  to  leeward,  presents  a  high,  copper-sheathed 
wall  to  the  seething  flood,  and  before  you  know  it  you 
have  passed  the  crest  of  the  huge  wave  and  are  sliding 
smoothly  and  noiselessly  into  the  quiet  valley  beyond. 

We  have  just  cause  for  rejoicing,  too,  for  the  ship  has 
come  up  two  whole  points  since  midnight,  and  we  are  now 
steering  east-northeast  by  compass  ;  two  more  points  to 
the  northward  and  we  can  fetch  to  windward  of  the  Faral- 
lones.  The  captain  seems  wonderfully  positive  that  w^e 
will  fetch  in  all  right,  and  when  he  expresses  himself  so 
surely,  which  he  seldom  does,  we  always  feel  pretty  certain 
of  the  chances  being  in  our  favor. 

I  haven't  mentioned  Mr.  Rarx  for  some  time.     He  has 

394 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

not  been  doing  at  all  well,  eats  hardly  six  ounces  of  food  a 
day,  and  he  has  withered  away  to  a  wraith  of  his  former 
self :  an  idea  of  this  may  be  gained  from  the  captain's  es- 
timate that  he  has  lost  at  least  forty  pounds.  The  im- 
pression grows  that  Louis  will  be  cleared  in  court,  this 
opinion  being  held  even  by  the  skipper,  for  the  men  say 
that  the  second  mate  knocked  Karl  down  with  a  maul 
besides  the  block,  and  there  are  three  others  who  can  bring 
damaging  evidence  against  Mr.  Rarx.  But  I  am  very 
much  afraid  that  the  mellifluous  voices  of  the  crimps  when 
they  swarm  aboard  in  San  Francisco  harbor  will  exercise  a 
somewhat  different  influence  upon  their  opinions.  I  should 
like  to  see  a  ship-master  with  the  courage  to  prevent  the 
entrance  of  these  crimps  into  his  vessel  ;  but  if  he  did  so 
and  had  them  all  kicked  over  the  side  into  the  harbor,  as 
they  ought  to  be,  what  a  time  this  ship-master  would  have 
getting  a  crew  together  when  he  was  next  ready  for  sea  ! 
For  not  a  boarding-master  in  the  city  would  let  him  have 
a  man. 

If  sailors  would  only  hold  together  when  they  get  ashore 
and  testify  against  the  bad  treatment  that  they  get  at  sea, 
nine-tenths  of  the  villains  who  officer  our  deep-water-men 
would  now  be  contemplating  existence  behind  grated  win- 
dows. If  we  had  any  doubts  as  to  this  particular  ship' s  being 
worse  in  its  treatment  of  the  men  than  the  average  Yankee, 
they  were  further  dispelled  by  a  remark  of  Jack  Nickalls,  an 
unobtrusive  little  sailor,  and  a  good  one  :  "  This  ship's  a 
peach  compared  to  them  wot  I've  been  in."  Louis  is 
fairly  cheerful  and  conducts  himself  remarkably  well.  Lati- 
tude 36°  i'  north  ;  longitude,  128°  20'  west. 

September  16 

To  our  very  great  astonishment,  the  wind  increased  very 
rapidly  yesterday  afternoon,  and  by  three  o'clock   it  was 

395 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

blowing  a  strong  gale  from  the  northward,  with  a  cloudless 
sky.  Several  exciting  incidents  marked  the  day,  the  first  of 
which  occurred  at  the  above  hour.  I  had  just  gone  on  deck 
when  suddenly  there  was  a  most  tremendous  clatter  for- 
ward, and  in  another  second  down  fell  the  big  maintop-mast 
stay-sail,  hanging  outboard  so  as  to  just  touch  the  water,  as, 
of  course,  it  was  blown  to  leeward  by  the  gale.  From  be- 
yond the  head,  which  was  that  part  that  hung  down,  ex- 
tended about  six  feet  of  the  heavy  iron  wire  stay  which  had 
parted,  and  there  instantly  began  the  most  terrible  slatting 
that  I  have  ever  heard  or  seen.  It  was  nothing  short  of 
fearful.  There  was  a  heavy  sea  running,  and  as  the  ship 
would  lay  far  over  every  few  moments  the  wind  would  gather 
up  the  sail,  blow  it  out  horizontally  to  leeward,  and  then 
jerk  it  back  and  forth,  up  and  down,  seemingly  in  every 
direction  at  the  same  instant,  with  appalling  fury,  the  iron 
wire  dashing  now  against  the  main -backstays,  now  against 
the  bulwarks,  now  full  into  the  bunt  of  the  main-sail,  with  a 
force  that  was  awful  and  made  you  hold  your  breath  as  the 
weapon  was  flung  against  the  backstays  with  the  crack  of 
a  pistol.  I  have  seen  slatting  before  when  the  gear  of  large 
racing  yachts  carried  away  ;  but  it  was  not  to  be  spoken 
of  in  the  same  breath  with  that  of  to-day.  It  was  as  if  the 
power  of  the  universe  was  concentrated  in  the  twisting, 
bounding,  whirling  stay-sail  ;  and  the  sailors  stood  aghast, 
for  it  was  certain  death  to  approach. 

The  captain  was  asleep  when  the  stay  parted,  but  he  was 
on  deck  in  a  few  seconds,  and  instantly  ordered  the  helm 
hard  up,  so  as  to  get  the  ship  before  the  wind  and  prevent 
further  destruction,  for  the  main-rigging  couldn't  have 
stood  the  thrashing  much  longer.  Slowly  the  ship  paid 
off,  but  five  minutes  passed  until  she  was  running  free 
before  the  big,  smoking  seas,  for  we  had  started  nothing, 
but  had  simply  put  the  helm  up.      Meanwhile  the  slashing 

396 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

continued,  and  at  last  the  wire  burst  through  the  main-sail 
and  made  a  gaping  rent  in  the  after-leech.  How  the  w^hole 
lee  side  of  the  sail  escaped  is  marvellous  ;  but  when  we 
were  dead  before  the  wind  four  hands  simultaneously  seized 
the  heaving  sail,  and  by  heroic  work  finally  got  it  muzzled 
after  fifteen  minutes  of  most  courageous  efforts. 

No  sooner  was  it  secured  and  the  ship  on  her  course 
again  than  the  old  man  sung  out,  ' '  Clew  up  the  main- 
t'-ga'nt-s'l. "  There  was  a  rush  to  the  clew-Hnes  and  hal- 
liards ;  but  somebody  slacked  away  something  too  quickly 
for  the  zephyr  that  was  whispering  aloft,  for  there  came  a 
crackling  report,  and  the  top-gallant-sail  at  once  was  trans- 
formed into  canvas  pennants.  A  varied  assortment  of 
profanity  tinged  the  atmosphere  for  quite  half  an  hour,  as  a 
new  sail  had  to  be  bent,  and  no  one  who  has  not  seen  a 
sail  shifted  in  a  gale  of  wind  can  form  any  true  idea  of  the 
hard  labor  entailed  in  the  process.  So,  leaving  the  un- 
initiated to  picture  it  as  well  as  he  can,  I  must  go  on  to  de- 
scribe something  that  occurred  which  more  nearly  con- 
cerned ourselves. 

My  wife  and  I  were  in  our  room  a  few  minutes  later  dis- 
cussing the  stay-sail  business,  when,  without  warning,  there 
came  a  very  great  lurch,  and  then  the  booming  of  mighty 
waters  smote  our  ears  as  a  whooping  sea  fell  thundering 
directly  on  the  poop.  For  a  moment  we  were  speechless 
as  the  water  rushed  in  our  windows,  in  spite  of  this  being 
the  lee  side,  drenching  every  object  in  the  room  ;  but  we 
were  called  to  our  senses  mighty  suddenly  by  the  volume 
of  water  that  came  cascading  down  the  companion-way 
and  gushing  inches  deep  into  our  room.  But,  alas  !  what 
could  we  do  ?  Such  a  thing  happens  in  a  second,  and  by 
the  time  that  we  had  slammed  the  door  and  shutters  there 
was  no  more  water  to  come  in  and  the  damage  was 
wrought.     Personally  we  did  not  suffer  extensively,   but 

397 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

the  after-cabin  was  a  rare  sight.  The  skipper's  room  was 
on  the  weather-side,  and  as  the  ship  heeled  far  over  to  the 
sea,  everything  movable  shot  out  into  the  cabin,  and  when 
we  first  saw  it  books,  magazines,  balls  of  twine,  slippers, 
shoes,  ocean  directories,  charts,  dividers,  rulers,  cigars, 
and  an  incredible  number  of  old  San  Franciscan  news- 
papers, every  letter  of  which  we  have  read,  including  the 
advertisements,  were  washing  about  in  half  a  foot  of  brine. 
An  idea  of  the  volume  of  water  may  be  gained  when  it  is 
said  that  the  steward  and  Sammie  were  an  hour  and  a  half 
in  baling  it  out  with  buckets.  Fortunately,  the  weather 
windows  were  protected  by  the  solid  wooden  shutters  which 
had  just  been  closed  ;  but  the  companion  door  had  been 
left  open,  and  this  did  nearly  all  the  damage.  Not  even 
when  the  forward  skylight  was  stove  off  the  river  Plate 
was  there  so  much  water  below,  and  it  was  really  an  alarm- 
ing thing  to  see  so  much  ocean  flowing  down  the  com- 
panion-stairs. 

But  all  these  little  inconveniences  were  as  nothing  when 
compared  with  the  fact  that  the  gale  delayed  us  seriously 
and  that  the  sea  kept  knocking  us  off,  though  the  wind 
was  steady  at  north-northwest ;  so  that,  in  spite  of  it,  we 
did  not  make  good  a  better  course  than  east  by  north  and 
went  through  the  water  very  slowly,  as  we  had  to  hold  her 
well  up  to  make  even  one  point  of  northing. 

By  ten  this  a.  m.  ,  however,  the  wind  had  so  moderated 
that  the  top-gallant-sails  were  set,  but  we  began  then  to 
break  off  to  the  southward  of  east,  and  at  one  o'clock  we 
wore  ship  and  are  now  on  the  starboard  tack,  heading  up 
northwest  by  north.  The  point  to  be  avoided  at  all  hazards 
is  not  to  fall  off  to  the  southward  any  more  ;  never  mind 
going  back  into  the  Pacific  a  little  if  you  can  make  some 
northing.  Our  destination  is  distant  only  a  hundred  and 
fifty  miles,  and  the  captain  has  until  Saturday  to  save  his 

398 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

record  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  days.     Latitude,  36°  28' 
north  ;  longitude,  125°  30'  west. 

September  17 

Instead  of  being  now  within  sight  of  the  coast,  lo  !  we 
are  becalmed  within  twenty  miles  of  where  we  were  at 
noon  yesterday.  It  is  difficult  to  imagine  anything  more 
exasperating  than  to  lie  idly  upon  the  surface  of  a  glassy 
ocean,  only  a  little  more  than  a  hundred  miles  from  the 
port  for  which  you  have  been  striving  for  four  months.  I 
wouldn't  care  if  the  voyage  were  to  be  several  weeks 
longer,  but  it  is  trying  for  all  hands  to  thus  lie  becalmed 
so  near  the  haven.  Off  the  Hooghly,  we  were  similarly 
tortured  with  light  winds  for  several  days. 

When  we  went  on  deck  this  morning  the  weather  was 
such  that  we  might  well  have  conceived  ourselves  down 
between  the  Trades,  for  we  apparently  floated  in  oil,  and 
the  big  squares  of  canvas  depended  in  writhing  folds  from 
the  lofty  yards.  Not  even  the  smallest  clouds  spattered 
the  blue  heavens,  but  a  thin  haze  covered  the  sea  and  rose 
above  the  horizon  some  fifteen  degrees  or  so,  a  semi-trans- 
parent curtain  of  a  deep  orange,  beautiful  to  behold,  but  of 
ill  omen,  as  it  was  highly  improbable  that  anything  worthy 
the  name  of  breeze  would  come  from  anywhere  with  such 
conditions. 

Astern,  among  the  dark,  spiral  water- funnels  floated  half 
a  dozen  gunies,  and  we  thought  that  perhaps  we  could  cap- 
ture one  ;  therefore  the  skipper  rigged  a  small  hook  baited 
with  bacon-rind  to  a  thin  line  and  dropped  it  overboard. 
In  a  few  minutes  one  took  the  bait  ;  and,  giving  the  line  a 
jerk,  he  hooked  the  creature  in  the  upper  part  of  the  bill 
and  hauled  him  through  the  water  and  up  over  the  stern. 
This  bird  made  but  little  resistance,  and  formed  a  strong 
contrast    to   the    fierce   struggles   of   an    albatross    under 

399 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

similar  conditions.  When  finally  deposited  upon  the  deck, 
he  seemed  to  be  about  the  size  of  a  swan  as  to  body,  but 
his  wings  were  very  long,  the  alar  extent  being  eight  feet, 
or  only  three  or  four  feet  less  than  an  average  albatross. 
Like  the  latter,  a  guny  can  inflict  a  very  severe  wound 
with  his  bill,  and  it  is  necessary  to  have  a  care  for  your 
calves  as  you  pass  by.  We  endeavored  to  take  some  pho- 
tographs of  the  big  bird,  but  he  would  insist  upon  con- 
tinual motion,  and  finally  the  wretched  beast  cast  up  the 
contents  of  his  stomach  on  the  deck,  after  the  manner  of 
all  sea-fowl.  Then  the  captain  brought  up  the  Maltese 
cat,  who  entertains  a  very  lofty  opinion  of  itself  and  who 
is  in  the  habit  of  valiantly  putting  the  chickens  to  flight  ; 
he  was  apparently  stunned,  though,  when  confronted  with 
the  great  bird,  and  when  the  latter  opened  a  beak  in  which 
the  whole  of  Tommie's  head  might  have  rested,  his  tail 
thickened  and  he  sped  him  away.  As  it  was  useless  then 
to  keep  the  guny  any  longer  on  board,  the  skipper  grasped 
him  dexterously  by  the  tip  of  one  wing  and  threw  him 
over  the  side  ;  whereupon  catching  himself  before  he 
touched  the  water,  he  flew  of?  with  a  joyous  scream  to  re- 
join his  comrades,  and  no  doubt  relate  to  them  his  wonder- 
ful adventures.  Latitude,  36°  35'  north;  longitude,  125° 
50'  west. 

September  18 

Becalmed,  sixty-five  miles  from  the  Farallones  !  It  is  a 
dismal  fact  that  although  we  had  a  light,  fair  wind  all  last 
night,  it  let  go  at  nine  this  morning,  and  since  then  we  have 
been  weltering  in  a  light  swell  from  the  northward,  with  the 
sea  at  times  like  blue  ice.  Such  a  dead  calm  was  it  that 
my  wife  and  I  played  cards  the  greater  part  of  the  morning 
on  deck.  At  7  a.m.  the  haze  that  shrouded  the  sea  com- 
menced to  melt  under  the  hot  sun,  and  two  ships  were  dis- 

400 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

closed  to  our  vision,  one  to  port,  the  other  to  starboard. 
The  former  was  a  three-master  of  about  two  thousand  tons, 
while  the  other  was  a  very  large,  full-rigged,  four-masted 
ship — that  is,  square-rigged  on  all  the  masts — of  fully 
twenty-eight  hundred  tons.  Both  were  metal  vessels,  and 
made  a  fine  picture  as  they  gracefully  topped  the  easy  swell. 
They  were  bound  to  the  southward,  and  therefore  have  all 
their  troubles  before  them. 

The  poor  old  man  has  broken  his  record,  and  we  feel  very 
sorry  for  him  ;  and,  indeed,  it  is  a  very  fine  thing  for  a  cap- 
tain to  be  able  to  say  that  never,  upon  any  voyage,  in  any 
part  of  the  world,  has  he  been  more  than  one  hundred  and 
thirty  days  at  sea.  He  takes  this  voyage  very  philosophi- 
cally, which  is  a  remarkable  fact,  and  says  that  no  matter 
how  fine  a  man's  record  may  be,  it's  only  necessary  to  keep 
on  and  it  will  at  last  be  broken.  I  divided  up  some  articles 
of  old  clothes  among  the  men  this  afternoon,  and  their 
pleasure  as  they  drew  lots  for  the  various  pieces,  which  they 
made  no  attempt  to  conceal,  was  delightful  to  see.  We, 
ourselves,  are  all  packed  up  ready  to  go  ashore  whenever 
the  wind  will  allow  us  ;  it  is  very  satisfactory  to  get  this 
done,  for  we  always  travel  with  an  altogether  unnecessary 
quantity  of  impedimenta,  and  it  is  a  matter  of  consider- 
able skill  to  compress  all  the  things  into  two  or  three 
trunks. 

While  we  were  looking  at  the  smaller  of  those  two  ships 
this  morning  the  captain  said  that  she  looked  like  the 
British  ship  * '  Eurydice, ' '  the  present  holder  of  the  record 
passage  across  the  North  Pacific,  she  having  made  the  voy- 
age from  Yokohama  to  Port  Townsend  in  the  wonderfully 
fast  time  of  nineteen  days.  With  this  voyage  compare 
those  of  two  other  British  square-riggers,  the  * '  Clan  Mac- 
farlane"  and  the  '' Matterhorn"  ;  neither  is  a  slow  ship, 
yet  the  former  was  one  hundred  and  one  days  sailing  from 
26  401 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

Hong-Kong  to  San  Francisco,  and  the  latter  one  hundred 
and  fourteen  between  the  same  ports. 

The  captain  is  beginning  to  wonder  how  difficult  it  is 
going  to  be  for  him  to  get  a  crew  in  '  Frisco  when  he  is 
ready  for  sea  again  ;  he  is  worrying  a  good  deal  over  it,  for 
when  we  sailed  from  New  York  sailors  were  so  scarce  in 
San  Francisco  that  the  big  ships  ' '  Forfarshire'  *  and  *  *  Ken- 
sington" went  to  sea  with  crews  half  of  which  were  ranch 
hands,  who  had  been  rounded  up  by  the  crimps.  Lati- 
tude, 37°  ii'  north;  longitude,  124°  12' west. 

September  19 

At  half-past  six  this  morning  there  was  a  great  rapping 
and  thumping  on  our  door,  and  Captain  Scruggs  cried,  *  *  If 
you  want  to  see  the  Faralleeones  you'd  better  come  on 
deck. ' '  Ten  minutes  later  we  emerged  from  the  compan- 
ion-way, but  at  first  could  see  nothing  at  all  for  a  chilly 
fog  that  lay  upon  the  water,  which  had,  during  the  night, 
changed  to  the  muddy  green  of  soundings.  By  dint  of 
perseverance,  though,  we  saw  a  large,  dark  mass  loom 
gradually  up  until  we  could  plainly  discern  the  brown, 
sterile  cones  of  the  Farallones,  which  lie  about  twenty-five 
miles  west  of  San  Francisco  Heads.  Many  persons  have 
been  puzzled  to  know  why  it  is  that  the  majority  of  the 
Pacific  coast  population  pronounce  the  word  as  though  it 
was  spelled  Fa-ra-lee-owns.  The  explanation  of  it  seems  to 
me  to  be  a  corruption  of  the  Spanish  pronunciation  Fa-ral- 
yo-nes,  as,  of  course,  the  double  1  iri\  that  language  has  the 
sound  of  y.  The  same  can  be  said  of  MoUendo,  an  im- 
portant Peruvian  port  in  17°  south  ;  for  Calif ornians  who 
are  not  especially  erudite  call  the  place  Mol-ly-en-do,  from 
the  Spanish  Mol-yen-do.  It  will  be  perceived  how  readily 
careless  persons  could  fall  into  the  way  of  putting  an  extra 
syllable  in  names  which  contain  the  double  1,  from  hear- 

402 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

ing  Mexicans  and  South  Americans  pronounce  the  words, 
which,  of  course,  they  do  correctly. 

As  we  had  packed  all  of  our  valises,  etc. ,  the  night  before, 
there  was  nothing  for  us  to  do  but  to  anticipate  with  pleas- 
urable excitement  the  entrance  into  the  Golden  Gate,  for 
the  captain  assured  us  that  by  eleven  o'clock  there  wouldn't 
be  a  vestige  of  fog  left  ;  this  being  a  peculiarity  of  the  coast 
climate.  Sure  enough,  at  ten  the  mists  began  to  disperse 
and  a  bright  glare  overhead  indicated  an  impending  flood 
of  sunshine. 

At  this  moment  we  heard  several  sharp  whistles  ahead, 
and  a  tow-boat  passed  close  to  us  in  another  minute,  and 
then  rounding  to,  ranged  up  alongside.  How  odd  a  sensa- 
tion it  is  to  see  a  new  face  again  after  an  absence  of  four 
months  from  the  retreats  of  men  !  Day  after  day,  week 
after  week,  we  have  watched  Mr.  Goggins  relieve  Mr. 
Rarx,  and  Broadhead  relieve  Paddy,  so  steadily  that  we 
almost  forgot  that  there  was  any  one  else  in  existence  ;  and 
when  we  perceived  the  captain  of  the  tug-boat  standing  in 
the  pilot-house  in  a  glistening  "  biled"  shirt  and  store 
clothes  and  a  polish  on  his  brown  shoes  that  quite  dazzled 
us,  we  gazed  upon  him  fascinated,  for  he  was  the  biggest 
dude  we  had  seen  in  nineteen  weeks.  And  how  uncouth 
the  ship's  company  looked  when  contrasted  with  even  the 
tow-boat's  crew  !  However,  we  were  soon  brought  to  from 
our  reveries  by  a  large  bundle  of  newspapers  that  the  tug's 
skipper  hove  on  board  ;  and  who  can  depict  the  joy  of  that 
hour,  during  which  we  pored  over  the  journals,  marvelling 
at  the  commonplace  allusions  to  momentous  events  which 
had  been  almost  forgotten  by  the  daily  reader  ? 

Presently  we  passed  two  ships  bound  up  to  Puget  Sound. 
— the  "Dashing  Wave"  and  the  "  Yosemite"  (old  Neil- 
sen,  a  Swede,  said  he  used  to  sail  in  the  ' '  Jo-se-might' ' ),  — 
and  then,  the  fog  lifting  suddenly  and  completely,  we  found 

403 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

ourselves  only  two  miles  from  the  Heads.  ' '  Get  out  an 
old  ensign,"  said  the  skipper  to  the  mate,  "and  put  it  in 
the  riggin',  union  down."  "Hall  right,  sir,"  answered 
that  individual  with  much  satisfaction,  and  in  a  few  minutes 
an  old  torn  flag,  reversed,  fluttered  in  the  starboard  miz- 
zen-shrouds.  It  was  of  ominous  meaning,  for  to  a  sailor  it 
signified  ' '  police  assistance  wanted  on  board. ' '  And  then 
we  remembered  the  Frenchman  below,  and  wondered  what 
his  thoughts  and  anticipations  must  be,  for  of  course  he 
knew  that  a  tow-boat  had  our  line. 

It  was  a  quarter  to  noon  when  we  entered  the  Golden 
Gate  under  a  cloudless  sky  and  caught  our  first  glimpse  of 
the  world-famed  harbor.  A  single  word  describes  it, — mag- 
nificent. The  entrance  itself,  where  the  ship  moves  on  be- 
tween wild,  rugged  hills  that  tower  sheer  out  of  the  sea,  is 
marked  with  an  individual  grandeur,  and  serves  to  prepare 
one  for  the  splendid  haven  within  ;  and  when  the  ship 
finally  glides  beyond  a  certain  headland  and  creeps  slowly 
along  in  a  perfect  maze  of  great  wooden  and  steel  sailing 
ships,  with  the  immense  expanse  of  shining  water  ahead,  the 
wonderful,  perpendicular  streets  on  the  starboard  hand,  and 
the  endless  chain  of  lofty  hills  on  the  other,  a  sensation  of 
pride  tingles  through  you  when  you  think  that  it  is  your 
"ain  countrie"  that  boasts  this  great,  matchless  harbor. 

Long  before  the  anchorage  was  reached  a  handsome 
white  steamer  was  seen  approaching  us,  with  a  vertically 
striped  flag  in  the  stern.  It  was  the  revenue  cutter  ;  and, 
steaming  alongside,  four  men  at  once  stepped  on  board. 
The  first  was  the  customs  inspector,  and  the  others,  a 
deputy  United  States  marshal  and  two  policemen.  It  was 
a  dramatic  scene.  All  of  our  men  were  huddled  around 
the  galley,  with  anxious  looks  toward  the  officers  of  the 
law,  who  immediately  went  into  the  cabin  and  held  a  long 
conversation    in   low  tones  with   the   captain.      Then   the 

404 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

deputy  marshal  stepped  into  the  second  mate's  room  and 
talked  with  him  five  minutes  in  whispers,  a  blue-coat  post- 
ing himself  at  each  cabin  door.  A  rattling  of  keys  was 
heard  in  another  moment,  and  then  old  Goggins,  somewhat 
awed,  but  as  pompous  and  ridiculous  as  a  turkey,  stumped 
down  into  the  lazarette,  and  with  much  unnecessary  clank- 
ing of  chains  Louis  issued  forth  into  daylight.  He  was  as 
pale  as  ashes,  for  a  sort  of  prison  pallor  was  upon  his 
usually  dark  cheeks,  and  he  seemed  on  the  point  of  break- 
ing down  when  he  saw  the  police.  Then  he  looked  all 
around  imploringly,  first  at  his  shipmates  near  the  galley, 
then  at  Captain  Scruggs,  and  finally  he  caught  sight  of  us, 
when  he  cast  upon  us  a  look  so  sad  and  beseeching  that 
I  will  remember  forever  the  sorrowful  look  in  his  eyes. 
Only  for  an  instant  did  he  stop,  though  ;  the  officers 
stepped  forward  at  a  nod  from  the  deputy,  grasped  the 
Frenchman,  still  manacled,  by  the  collar,  marched  him 
quickly  over  to  the  port  side,  hustled  him  aboard  the  rev- 
enue boat,  and  in  another  instant  Louis  Jacquin,  able  sea- 
man, of  Dunquerque,  disappeared  from  view  and  was  on  his 
way  to  show  cause  for  an  assault  on  the  high  seas  upon 
Thomas  Rarx,  second  mate  of  the  clipper  "  Hosea 
Higgins." 

When  the  anchor  had  touched  the  bottom  we  stood  by 
for  the  crimps.  Even  before  we  were  aware  of  it  the  evil 
creatures  began  to  swarm  on  board  like  a  flock  of  sinister 
vultures,  and  without  ceremony  they  fell  upon  their  prey. 
They  plied  the  men  from  bottles  whose  black  nozzles  pro- 
truded from  their  coat-pockets  ;  and  in  a  few  minutes  each 
had  pursuaded  his  man  to  go  with  him  when  they  should 
get  ashore.  Poor  fellows,  once  more  in  the  clutches  of  the 
vampires,  who,  while  not  actually  fostered  by  the  govern- 
ment, yet  are  allowed  to  ply  their  abominable  and  iniqui- 
tous trade  full  in  the  face  of  the  law.     And  I  repeat,  the 

405 


BY  WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

allotment  or  advance  syste^n  of  wages  that  now  prevails,  and 
which  is  the  basis  upon  which  the  whole  scheme  of  crimping 
is  founded,  must  be  abolished.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  Fed- 
eral government  to  see  to  it  that  this  is  done. 

At  fifteen  minutes  past  twelve  there  was  a  loud  order 
from  the  captain,  ' '  Let  go. ' '  Then  came  the  heavy, 
crushing  splash,  the  fierce  rush  of  the  cable,  the  big  four- 
thousand-pound  anchor  gripped  the  mud  of  San  Francisco 
Bay,  and  our  long  voyage  was  a  thing  of  the  past.  How 
many  exciting  moments  we  had  had  in  those  one  hundred 
and  thirty-one  days  !  What  varied  phases  of  the  ocean 
we  had  witnessed  in  the  seventeen  thousand  four  hundred 
miles  we  had  sailed,  from  the  snowy  squalls  and  hissing 
seas  of  Cape  Horn  to  the  quiet  breezes  and  calm  surface  of 
the  equatorial  seas  ! 

Little  time  was  given  us  for  reflection,  though,  for  the 
tug-boat  skipper  had  agreed  to  put  us  ashore  at  the  foot  of 
Market  Street,  if  we  would  ' '  look  alive. "  So  we  threw 
our  valises  and  shawl-straps  to  a  deck-hand  on  the  tug, 
shook  Captain  Scruggs  hardy  fist,  and  then  turned  to  do 
the  same  with  Mr.  Goggins  ;  but  as  this  individual  was 
invisible  at  the  time,  no  doubt  below  in  the  fore-peak,  we 
were  obliged  to  forego  that  pleasure.  And  now  there  en- 
sued a  remarkable  scene  :  as  we  went  over  the  side  we 
noticed  that  all  the  sailors  were  on  the  mainyard,  unbend- 
ing the  sail,  and  as  we  stepped  aboard  the  tow-boat  I 
shouted,  * '  Good-by,  boys  !  Good  luck  to  you  all  !'  * 
There  was  a  moment's  silence,  and  then  Broadhead,  who 
was  at  the  starboard  yard-arm  just  over  our  heads,  sung 
out,  ' '  Now,  fellows,  three  times  three  for  them' ' ;  and 
at  once  there  broke  out  the  most  vociferous  and  lusty 
cheering  that  ever  came  from  eighteen  throats.  The  men 
seemed  to  get  worked  up  as  they  shouted,  and  at  last 
MacFoy  and  a  dozen  others  fairly  yelled  and  threw  their 

406 


BY   WAY   OF   CAPE   HORN 

caps  on  deck  and  waved  their  arms  like  madmen,  so  that 
their  voices  went  ringing  peal  on  peal  over  the  broad 
harbor,  bringing  to  the  rail  the  officers  and  crews  of  the 
big  Scotch  ships  '*  Aberfoyle,"  ''County  of  Linlithgow" 
and  ''Blairgowrie,"  which  lay  hard  by,  to  know  what  all 
this  cheering  meant  on  a  Yankee  just  in  from  sea.  It  was 
a  moment  to  bring  a  tear  to  your  eye  ;  and  neither  my 
wife  nor  I  can  ever  forget  these  honest,  big-hearted  sailors 
as  they  appeared  on  that  yard,  shouting  themselves  hoarse. 
Why  ?  Simply  because  we  had  bade  them  good-morning 
and  good-night  during  the  voyage  and  had  shown  that  we 
understood  and  appreciated  their  hard  and  thankless  labors. 
If  ship-masters  would  realize  that  a  single  kind  word  or 
even  look  often  exerts  more  influence  over  a  crew  than 
oaths  and  blows,  what  a  difference  there  would  be  in  the 
handling  and  navigating  of  our  long-voyage  sailing  ships  1 


4D7 


APPENDIX 

A  FEW  days  after  our  arrival  at  San  Francisco,  Louis 
Jacquin  was  brought  for  trial  at  that  port  before  the  United 
States  Commissioner.  He  made  an  excellent  defence  ;  so 
good,  indeed,  that  after  due  consideration  of  both  sides  of 
the  case,  the  commissioner  was  compelled  to  discharge 
him,  and  Louis  walked  forth  a  free  man.  This  was  a  just 
and  most  satisfactory  termination  of  the  matter,  though  I 
would  have  liked  to  see  Rarx  properly  punished  for  his 
treatment  of  Karl  et  al.  In  truth,  Karl,  Briin  and  Petter- 
sen  did  prefer  charges  against  both  mates,  who  were  held 
for  trial  ;  but  when  the  case  came  up  no  witnesses  appeared 
against  them,  for  the  very  good  reason  that  the  three  men 
were  shanghaied  aboard  a  New  York  bound  ship  by  the 
boarding  masters,  thus  pursuing  the  usual  course  in  such 
matters.  Rarx  recovered  in  a  short  time,  and  no  doubt  is 
at  this  moment  stamping  on  some  poor  fellow  whom  he  has 
beaten  down  with  the  ever-present  belaying-pin. 

While  this  book  was  in  press,  there  arrived  at  San  Fran- 
cisco one  of  our  most  widely  known  Cape-Horners.  The 
men  related  stories  of  unusually  shocking  cruelties  on  the 
part  of  the  captain  as  well  as  the  officers,  and  the  second 
mate  was  held  in  five  hundred  dollars  bonds.  Two  of  the 
sailors  testified,  on  separate  occasions,  to  this  incident  : 
While  wearing  off  the  Horn  one  day,  the  second  mate 
struck  a  sailor  down  with  a  capstan-bar  and  was  kicking 
him  heavily  in  the  head,  when  the  mate  yelled  from  the 
poop,  "That's  right,  kick  the  life  out  of  him";  to  which 
the  second  mate  replied,  ' '  I  would  kill  him  if  we  were  only 
bound  to  Hong-Kong." 

409 


APPENDIX 

Is  this  the  way  our  consuls  protect  the  lives  of  men 
under  the  flag  ?  What  is  the  matter  with  our  Eastern  con- 
sular service  that  men  may  be  killed  on  our  ships  (as  they 
have  been),  and  the  murderers  go  free  upon  landing  at 
Chinese  and  Japanese  ports?  A  delightful  travesty,  in- 
deed, upon  our  exalted  civilization. 


THE  END. 


4IG 


